Wolf's Rain: The Albino Wolf
by Anime-Panda-Chan
Summary: Uhhmm... yeah, it's just like Wolf's Rain except before they leave the city, they find another wolf... more of Romance, hope you like...R&R pwease (finished! YEAY!) I also have a pic of Kira on my website (listed in profile)
1. The Albino Wolf

I dont own any of the characters except Kira. And blah blah blah... (Characters: Toboe, Tsume, Kiba, Hige, Darcia, Quent, and Cheza)  
  
NOTE: This fanfic might be confusing because I will not have Cher or Hubb in the story... leavin' them out cuz I hardly know what's going on with them, been ignoring it... sorrys if you're disapointed. This is going to be like a replay of the series but with another character... Hope you likes...  
  
Pronouncing Characters: Im making a friend read this and she doesnt know the show or watch it (no cable... damnit...)... so skip if you know how to pronounce their names.  
  
Toboe (Howling) - toe'boe'eh  
  
Tsume (Claw) - su'may  
  
Kiba (Fang) - ki' bah  
  
Hige (Whiskers) - he, geh  
  
Kira (To shine) - Ki'la (or Ki'rah, in english accent)  
  
Chapter 1: The Albino Wolf  
  
[Starts at... oh, I dont know... when they run away from the city into the blizzard, blah blah blah]  
  
Toboe, Tsume, Kiba, and Hige run off into the blizzard, all of them making their way farther and farther away from the city. Tsume glances back at the city, then looks away and continues running.  
  
Toboe suddenly stops. He sniffs the air, smelling something unusual. Something that shouldnt be there...  
  
"Are you coming, Toboe??" Hige asks. Toboe looks down and notices the pack had stopped for him.  
  
"I smell something." he continues sniffing and realises that the smell was coming from the ground. "Dont you guys smell it? Hige, you have strong nose... It's very faint for me, can you smell it?"  
  
Hige blinks and sniffs. He shifts his head from side to side with his nose in the snow. He walks several steps, then stops.  
  
"It's coming from right here..." Hige moves away the snow with his paws. He dig a few inches, then stares in shock.  
  
"What the hell is it?" Tsume asks.  
  
He, Kiba and Toboe walk closer to Hige and looks closely at what he was digging.  
  
"A wolf.." he exclaims, but didnt sound too suprised.  
  
Toboe could see the neck of the wolf and grabs onto it with his mouth. He is careful not to bite hard enough to make them bleed. He drags them out of the inches of snow and onto surface. He puts his ear up to their rib area to check for a heartbeat.  
  
"They're still alive." Toboe confirms. "We should get them out of this blizzard..."  
  
"How are we going to get them out??" Hige asks. "It's not like we can drag them, that would slow us down till we're dead!"  
  
Tsume creeps closer and nudges his snout under the wolf. He crawls under them and stands up, lifting them onto his back.  
  
"I'll carry her." he says while walking again.  
  
"Her?!?" Hige seems to drop his jaw. "How do you know it's a her??"  
  
"By how light weight she is." Tsume answers without looking back at them. They all glance at eachother and continue their walk out of the blizzard.  
  
[About 1 hour later...]  
  
The blizzard dies down and snow lightly falls. Then the snow stops and the sun rises to say hello for the day.  
  
Tsume slowly tips to the side, dropping the white female wolf on the snowy ground. He turns around to face the wolf. The others catch up and stays atleast a foot away from her.  
  
"Might as well rest here for a while untill she awakes." Kiba walks away from the group and lays down. Tsume walks the other direction about the same distance as Kiba went and sits. Hige curiously looks at the wolf he had sniffed out. Toboe nudges her with his snout lightly.  
  
"Hey," he speaks to the wolf, aware that she might not be able to hear him. "Hello? Are you okay?"  
  
He licks her cheek (or on the cheekbone) to try to get her awake. He could taste a drop of blood on her. He looks down to her arm and sees she is bleeding.  
  
"Oh my god, she's hurt." Toboe licks the wound in where her shoulder should be (as human).  
  
"She is?" Hige peeks behind Toboe. "Doesnt look that big of a wound, it's just bleeding a lot..."  
  
The wolf winces and moves around slightly. Her eyes shoot open. She bolts upright and looks around panicked. She looks at the pack with huge eyes, which indicates she was scared, and edges away backwards.  
  
Toboe and Hige take their human forms. Hige catches Tsume and Kiba already in their human forms in the corner of his eye.  
  
"Dont be afraid, we just helped you escape the blizzard..." Toboe looks at the wolf with a worried face. She peers into his eyes and sees he really was just trying to help. She calms down, her eyes become normal, and steps closer to Toboe and Hige.  
  
"Uhm... thank you for saving me from out there." she slowly takes her human form.  
  
She wore a black tanktop which ended inches above her belly button and a big blue baggy jeans which seems to be for guys. She has bandages wrapped around her hands, up to her elbows and on her bare feet up to her knees (not that they could really see it). She sits down like they were and looks at them blankly. She holds the wound on her arm with one hand.  
  
Her hair was black, but seemed red with the sun beaming on it. Her long bangs drop to her chin and reaches back to her ears. The rest of her hair was hung down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her eyes were the most stunning part of her. They were a crimson red color, which is probably the first thing you'd see on her.  
  
"My name is Toboe, and this is Hige." Toboe glances at Hige. "Over there is Tsume and on the other side is Kiba."  
  
Hige smiles. Toboe blushes slightly and looks at the ground. Tsume and Kiba glance over their shoulders to look at the girl for a second, then both turn away.  
  
"My name is Kira. Nice to meet you all." Kira smiles and shifts her eyes to Tsume and looks at him unusually.  
  
She glances back at the group. Toboe remembers the wound on her arm. He takes out a small blue piece of cloth out of his pocket and knee-walks over to Kira (cuz they were sitting down).  
  
"Here, let me see your arm." Toboe sits next to her.  
  
Kira removes her hand from her bleeding arm. Toboe wraps the cloth around it, not too tight, and ties it on her arm.  
  
"I hope that helps." Toboe smiles and inches back slighly without Kira noticing.  
  
"Thank you," she smiles back and reaches into her large jean pocket and pulls out a cloth pouch. She unties the string and opens it up. Hige watches closely, he could smell what was in the pouch. She pulls out a dried piece of meat (beef jerky I guess?) and holds it out for anyone to take.  
  
"Would you guys like some?" Kira asks.  
  
"FOOD!!" Hige creeps closer to Kira, indicating he wanted some. She hands the first piece to Hige, then the second to Toboe. She glances at Kiba and Tsume and wonders if they were hungry too.  
  
Kira takes her wolf form and sneaks behind Tsume with a piece of dried meat in her mouth. She drops it in his lap.  
  
"Get away from me, you!" Tsume growls and throws the piece of meat at Kira. She folds her ears back as she was hit in the head. She opens an eye to see if he was done and he was back to sitting the way he was before she came. She picks up the piece of meat again and sets it next to him. She walks away back to Hige and Toboe.  
  
"You can help yourselves to more, I have plenty more where that came from." Kira digs her snout into her pouch as Hige was holding it. She pulls out another piece and sneaks over to Kiba. He glances at her from the corner of his eye.  
  
"Thanks." he accepts the piece of meat. He holds it in his hand and stares at it. Kira was about to turn around.  
  
"Wait," Kiba stops her. She turns her face back to face Kiba. He lifts his arm above Kira's neck, he looked like he was about to strike her. Her ears fold back and awaits for the hit.  
  
"Hm? What's Kiba doing?" Toboe asks while chewing.  
  
"Looks to me like he's about to knock her out." Hige says with a mouth full of dried meat.  
  
"What?" Toboe gasps. Hige swallows what was in his mouth.  
  
"Kiba, no!" Hige yells over to him and runs over to them in wolf form. Kiba places his hand on Kira's fur as if petting her. Hige skids to a stop and falls over. Kiba stares at him blankly.  
  
"What is it, Hige?" he asks with his hand still on Kira. She was sitting down at this point. Hige lifts his head (human form).  
  
"Nothing, Kiba." he drops his head. "Nothing at all."  
  
Kiba stares at him suspisiously. Toboe runs over to Hige and drags him away back to the place where they were eating.  
  
"Anyways," Kiba turns back to Kira (human now). "So your name is Kira?"  
  
She nods.  
  
"I see you're an albino wolf."  
  
She nods again.  
  
"How did you end up where we found you?"  
  
Kira thinks and tries to recall what she remembered last.  
  
"Uhhmm... Im a traveling wolf, Ive been wandering around from place to place for a long time..." she begins to explain. "I was headed to another place, I didnt really know where I was going. So I walked where ever I felt like going, hoping to run into a small town or city. And... I walked for so long, or it felt so long. I knew it was atleast over 4 days... Then that's all I remember."  
  
Kiba nods while listening closely.  
  
"I see." he glances at the blue cloth wrapped around her arm. "What happened to your arm?"  
  
"A hunter," she sees the cloth is blood-soaked. "I was in a small town before I was headed off to a city I heard of , I got along with the city very well. They didnt know I was a wolf, I didnt know how they'd react if they knew I was one, so I never told them...  
  
Kira sighs.  
  
"I thought 'wow, I get along with the people here. They're so nice to me.' and I was making that decision to stay or head off again... Then a hunter came. He had a gun strapped to his back and wore a tan overcoat, and a hat on. He had a dark colored dog that he called 'Blue'"  
  
She pauses for a moment.  
  
"Go on." Kiba had all his attention on Kira now.  
  
"...The hunter, he was like a guest to the small town. So the people welcomed him, even if he had a gun and a scary looking dog. I was staying with a friend I met there, about my age or so. She lived with her grandmother at a inn they owned. So the man decided to stay at the inn... He was sitting down at a table by the desk. I came out of the kitchen with a glass of water I was going to offer him...  
  
"At the same time, my friend and her grandmother came in ready to help the man check in. He looked at my friend and grandmother first, then he looked at me. He looked like he was wasted and drunk, I was sorta scared, but I moved on and came closer to him with the glass of water. His dog's fur rose and barked at me, then the man... he stood up and aimed his gun at me...  
  
"My friend and her grandmother screamed and ducked. He yelled out 'God damnit, it's another wolf!!'... my friend was screaming for me to get down and hide behind the desk with her and her grandmother. I dropped the glass of water... He stood there, and said to me... 'We can do this right now, right here... or we can do it outside, so they dont have to clean up the mess.'  
  
"I was shivering, I felt paralized and couldnt move. He knew what I was... and I was shocked that he did. I had to do something, but I was limited. If I ran over to my friend, I knew he would shoot and might hit my them... I could have ran out, but as human, I was slow... but if I took my wolf form, I was sure I could run fast enough to get out and run away... so that's what I did. I took my wolf form. But before I did, I took one last look at my friend and her grandmother.  
  
"Then I just ran, ran untill I was out of the inn. But he followed me out and shot at me. One hit my shoulder, but I kept going... I didnt stop, I didnt want to. The whole town saw me run... they all probably know who I really am now because of that stupid guy..."  
  
Kira frowns. She notices she was talking for a long time.  
  
"Im sorry to bore you with my silly stories... I just got carried away a little..." she feels embarassed.  
  
"No... it's alright. It was intresting..." Kiba still had the exprassionless face on.  
  
((Author: DAMN IMA GO CRAZY WITH THESE NAMES!! Sorry if I get it mixed up uu))  
  
Kira wonders why he seemed like that since she got here, or if he was always like that. She shivers as a chilly wind blows past them. Kiba sees this. He places his jacket over her. She looks at him and notices he was just wearing a white t-shirt.  
  
"Arnt you going to be cold?" she asks.  
  
"No." he replies.  
  
Kira nods. She notices he was starting to eat the piece of meat she gave him. She pulls his jacket tighter on her and walks back to Hige and Toboe. They had already finished what was in the pouch. Hige lays on his back and stares at the clouds. Toboe was finishing up his last piece, but had 4 other pieces in his hands.  
  
"Here," he holds out the pieces to Kira. "I saved some for you... uhh, I hope we didnt pig out."  
  
"Nah, like I said, I have a lot more where that came from." she accepts the pieces and starts chewing on one. She continues to stare at Tsume. She notices the piece of meat she had left beside him was gone. She holds back a slight smile.  
  
"Dont mind those two, they're like that." Hige says without looking away from the sky.  
  
Kira nods. She felt warmth here, as if she had finally fitten into the puzzle after a long time of completing it. Even though half of them seemed like they didnt want her around, they were wolves and so was she.  
  
Kiba sneaks up behind them. Kira swallows the last piece of meat she was eating. Hige sits up and Toboe shifts his attention to Kiba. Tsume doesnt move.  
  
"We're going keep going now..." says Kiba.  
  
"Oh, well I guess I should be headed my own way..." Kira starts but is inturupted by Kiba.  
  
"Wait," he puts a hand on her shoulder as she was about to get up. "Before we go, I was going to ask if you'd like to come along with us. We're headed to Paradise... I guess."  
  
Kira stares at Kiba with wide eyes. She has never traveled with others before, especially with her own kind. She thinks about it for a moment. She looks at Hige and Toboe who were anxious to hear her answer. She looks at Tsume who was still sitting there. She smiles.  
  
"Sure." she gets up as well as Hige and Toboe. Tsume (wolf) was already ahead of them. He waits impatiently, his tail shifting from side to side.  
  
"Hm." Kiba looks as if he was hiding a smile, or atleast a grin. He (wolf) runs off to catch up with Tsume. Kira (wolf, okay everyone a wolf now!!) looks back at Hige and Toboe. They walk up beside her and the three run off together and catch up with Kiba and Tsume.  
  
End of Chapter one.  
  
NOTE: Okay, Ive been a very very bad writer these days. Ive lost the power I had a couple months ago where I could write poems that could make people cry... or atleast Ive made a couple people cry... hehehe. 


	2. The Ruins

Chapter 2: The Ruins  
  
Kira stops in the middle while they were running. She thinks for a moment.  
  
"Why did you stop?" Kiba asks. She looks up and notices the rest of the pack had stopped.  
  
"Uhhmm... well," Kira looks at the sky and examines the climate condition. "There's going to be a blizzard... a strong one. Stronger than the one I was found in... And the next town, I dont think we'll make it on time... and I know this place, it's like a ruins or something. If we stay there for the night, we'll be okay by morning and we can head off again..."  
  
She trails off, thinking the others were not intrested in what she was talking about. Kiba steps forward.  
  
"...How do you know all of this?" he asks curiously.  
  
"Uhhmm..." Kira looks down abd blushes. "... well, by how strong the wind is, the color of the clouds and the snow."  
  
They all stare at her with amazment, all except Tsume.  
  
"What if her guess is wrong? What if she's leading us into a trap?" Tsume growls. At that point, even Kira, everyone could tell he didnt trust her at all.  
  
Kiba walks over to Tsume.  
  
"It is getting windy and colder by the second. I think she's right." he looks him in the eyes for that moment, then continues walking along. "Let's go, Kira, you lead."  
  
Kira's head lifts as he says that. She was slightly nervous, but continues ahead of Kiba. They all run behind Kira, leaving pawprints which dissapear quickly from the snow.  
  
[About 20min later...]  
  
"We're almost-aak!" Kira starts but a shark pain shoots though her right arm. She loses her balance and rolls in the snow like a tumbleweed several feet. She lays there still, her breathing was heavy.  
  
"Right ahead of you.." she breaths as the others come closer to her. They couldnt really see it because the blizzard had already begun, but could see an outline.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Hige asks while Toboe and Kiba try nudging her up.  
  
"I'll be fine." she says, but her arm's wound opened up again, making her bleed more. She manages to get her up in a couple minutes. They continue down to the ruins, Kira still leading.  
  
"Over here." she crawls into a hole, just about large enough to fit all of the wolves. All except...  
  
"Aww man!!" Hige couldnt fit more than his head in. "I knew I shouldnt have eaten all that meat..."  
  
The others were in a small room, not big enough for them to stand in but enough so they could all sit down. There was another hole, or it looked like a tunnel in there. The place seemed to be made out of pieces of metal.  
  
"Damn, I cant get in... what do I do??" Hige seemed to talk to mostly Kira.  
  
Kira thinks. She glances at the tunnel and remembers there was another way in.  
  
"Hige, there's another way in." she jumps out of the hole that Hige couldnt fit though. She pokes her head back in. "I'll be right back, Im going to come from that tunnel so dont block it. Before she leaves, she drops a piece of meat in the middle of the small room.  
  
"Leave that there so Hige can sniff our way back here." with that, she closes the hole with a lid that happened to be attatched to the piece of metal that made the hole.  
  
"I hope they get back here safe..." Toboe (human) whispers to himself. Everyone was now human form.  
  
[Meanwhile...]  
  
Toboe sits nervously, his glance shifting from Tsume to Kiba, who were both staring at eachother, or glaring. Toboe couldnt tell. He tries not to look at the piece of meat. He was slightly hungry since Hige ate most of the meat. His mouth waters as the smell lures him closer and closer to eating it.  
  
[Back to Hige and Kira...]  
  
Kira runs under what looked like one of those parking lots under buildings. She stops near a pole, where a hole was beside it. It was big enough for Hige to fit into.  
  
"Found it... you go first." Kira moves out of the way so Hige could go first.  
  
"What?? Me? Why me?" he backs away slightly.  
  
"Do you want me to leave you out here?"  
  
"No... hmm..." he peers into the hole. It was a drop, but looked more like a slide.  
  
Kira sneaks up behind Hige and pushes him in. He falls in head first and slides down. She could hear him howl all the way down. She hears a "thump" indicating he had reached the bottom.  
  
"Move out of the way, Hige. Im comin' down." Kira jumps in without hesitation. She always enjoyed the ride down. She reaches the bottom and was about to land on all four but Hige was below her, making her fall onto him.  
  
"I thought I told you to move." Kira steps on his head before getting off.  
  
"Heh, just wanted to be a padding for you." Hige jokes.  
  
"Funny. Now let's go." Kira continues walking along the tunnel. It was like a sewer, but no water. She was limping from her wound. Hige follows behind her.  
  
Kira suddenly stops. She glances around. Her ears shift from side to side.  
  
"Something wrong?" Hige asks.  
  
"We're not alone." Kira lowers her head and sniffs the ground. "We have to move quickly back to the others."  
  
She lifts her head. Her eyes widen as she sees something small jump to attack Hige.  
  
"Move!!" Kira pushes Hige out of the way and bites on the rat that was about to bite him. Hige stares at Kira blankly.  
  
"It was just a rat." he wonders why she seemed so worried about a rat.  
  
"The rat's around here..." she bites it's head off and spits it out. "They arnt normal... their bites are poisonous. And they seem to attack larger animals than them..."  
  
"But... how??" Hige becomes slightly scared of the place.  
  
"I dont exactly know, but I think this place was attacked by a nuclear bomb... I thought that might be what caused it..." Kira continues to walk again. "They usually travel in large swarms... I dont know why this one was alone..."  
  
She stops again. This time her eyes were wide and she looks like she was frozen in place. Hige suddenly starts to hear squeaks and sounds of small clawed feet running... lots of them...  
  
"RUN!!" Kira bolts forward and dashes as fast as she can down the tunnel. Hige follows behind her.  
  
"We're almost there..." Kira thinks to herself. She looks back and could see the swarm of rats appearing.  
  
"Oh shit!" Kira runs faster down the tunnel. "Hige!! Get infront of me!"  
  
"What? Why-"  
  
"Just do it damnit!!"  
  
So with that, Hige bolts infront of Kira. He looks back and sees the rats were catching up.  
  
"If you see a turn on right, go in there!!" Kira yells up to him. She was slowing down because of her wound. Hige spots the turn and follows it. He turns and continues running but stops when he didnt hear Kira coming. He looks back and notices the rats werent there. He hears a long howl from where he came from.  
  
"Kira!!" he turns around and runs back to find Kira.  
  
[Back to Tsume, Toboe, and Kiba...]  
  
The three hears the howl. Toboe stands up startled, but ends up hitting his head on the ceiling.  
  
"That was Kira!!" he says while holding his aching head. But Kiba and Tsume (now wolf) had already left through the tunnel they heard the howl come from. Toboe (wolf) dashes through the tunnel and follows.  
  
Tsume and Kiba run and see a left or right turn at the end. They jumps out and look to their left to find Hige and Kira fighting off a swarm of rats. Kira was covered in rats, but Hige was trying to be careful as possible not to get bitten by one.  
  
"What the... she screams for help because of some rats??" Tsume snarls.  
  
"Their bite is poisonou-" Kira was stopped by a rat that bites her snout.  
  
"They arnt regular rats." Kiba runs next to Hige and helps kill them. Tsume does the same, but closer to Kira. Toboe emerges from the tunnel and his eyes widen as he sees Kira being attacked by rats.  
  
"Kira!!" Toboe runs over to the swarm of rats and starts biting them off Kira.  
  
"NO!" Kira screams. "Their bite is poisonous!!..."  
  
But it was too late. He gets bitten in the tail. Kiba bites on it and pulld it off. Toboe wobbles slightly, feeling weak. Kira's breathing was becoming heavy. She was having a hard time pulling the rats off of her. They kept coming and biting onto her.  
  
Eventually, Hige kills the last rat. He looks up at Kira and Toboe, the ones who were bitten. Kira walks past the others and into the small shelter they were going to spend the night in. She didnt have the strength to make herself comfertable, so she just lays down. She (human) puts her head on the hard metal ground ans sighs. The others (human) come in and sit down a second later.  
  
It all was silent for a while. Toboe was leaning against the walls and resting. Tsume had his eyes closed and seemed like he was sleeping. Kiba was looking at the ceiling. Hige was sitting next to him silently, looking at the ground and glancing at Kira and Toboe once in a while.  
  
Kira was too tired to stay awake. She had a hard time breathing and felt weak. Bite marks covered her body, and her wound was re-opened. She closes her eyes.  
  
Toboe was feeling slightly weak. He was okay since he only got bitten once. His head was bobbing up and down as he tries to keep awake.  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" Hige asks the two.  
  
Toboe nods once slowly. Kira was too weak to nod.  
  
"Yes." she replies. "I'll most likely be okay by tomarrow..."  
  
Hige nods, then goes off minding his own buisness again.  
  
A while later, Kira and Tsume fall asleep. Toboe was already ahead of them, and Hige was just resting his eyes. He was still wide awake. Kira was beginning to fall asleep.  
  
Moments later, when Kira was sure everyone was asleep, she opens one eye. She was indeed falling asleep but tried her best to keep awake. She opens her other eye and sits up. Hige was still wide awake, but she was unaware. She sneaks over to Tsume, who was sitting-sleeping next to her. She looks closely at his face.  
  
Hige peeks open an eye just a little. He raises his eyebrow when he sees Kira examining at Tsume's face.  
  
She's been paying a lot of attention to Tsume ever since she woke up after we found her... Hige thought. What's she so intrested in with him?  
  
Kira lifts her hand and was about to lightly touch his face, but was stopped by Hige.  
  
"I wouldnt do that if I were you." Hige whispers. His voice was close right behind her.  
  
She squeals, but in a whisper and falls forward. She was close to falling onto Tsume, but she had put her arms forward and was stopped by the wall. Tsume's head was right between her arms.  
  
"If he wakes up, he'll... err..." Hige starts to sweat. Kira had her head facing Hige, not paying any attention to Tsume. Kira starts to sweat as well, she just realizes why Hige stopped.  
  
Kira slowly turns her head to face Tsume. He was wide awake, and looked pissed off. He grabs her neck and pulls her face close to his.  
  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" his grip tightens when she doesnt answer. "Answer me."  
  
Kira couldnt speak because Tsume's was almost choking her. A warm tear trickles down her cheek. Then suddenly Kiba tackles Tsume, causing him to let go.  
  
"Get off me!!" Tsume pushes Kiba off of him. Kiba backs off and helps Kira up.  
  
"What were you doing?" Kiba demands to know.  
  
"I wake up and there she is, in my face. So I ask her what the hell she was doing." Tsume folds his arms and glares at Kira. She starts to edge away a little. Kiba turns to her.  
  
"Then what were you doing?" he asks.  
  
"I was..." Kira looks down. "I though he looked familiar... so I was just trying see if I could recall who he was..."  
  
Tsume smirks.  
  
"I dont know anyone who looks like you, end of discussion." he sits back down to the way he was and closes his eyes. Kiba nods, glances at Kira quickly and sits back down where he was. Kira lays back down where she was before, and Toboe was still dead. Hige walks over and sits next to Kira. He nudges himself between her head and Toboe.  
  
"Mind if I sleep here for the night?" he asks Kira. She shakes her head no. He smiles and closes his eyes. He creeps his hand to a lock of her hair. He puts his hand on it, feeling how soft it was. Then he slowly begins to fall asleep.  
  
End of Chapter Two. 


	3. Ghost Of The Ruins

NOTE: Dont kill me if I mistake their personalities a little Xx or if I call it the ruins... I dun wanna call it the wastelands for some reason, dont ask... did I mention this fanfic is more of romance? oo sweatdrop  
  
Chapter 3: Ghost of the Ruins  
  
[Morning...]  
  
Kira yawns and slowly sits up. She rubs her eyes and glances around. She notices Kiba awake already. Hige and Toboe were waking up too. And Tsume...  
  
"Where's Tsume??" he was gone. She looks around and notices Toboe shocked when he sees Tsume gone. Hige rubs the sleep out of his eyes and had a confused look on his face.  
  
"Mmhmmm... what's going on?" Hige mumbles.  
  
"Tsume was leaving when I woke up. He said he was going his own way." Kiba answers. "But... Im sure if you catch up with him now, if you want to, he'll come back."  
  
"What??" Toboe (wolf) bolts out of the hole they came from.  
  
"Wait for me, Toboe!!" Kira (wolf too) runs after him.  
  
Hige yawns and scratches his head.  
  
"Well, guess it's just you 'nd me for now." Hige (wolf) tries to push himself through the hole that the others came in from. He didnt want to get out the other way. He manages to get his head and front paws through, but his hind legs were a problem.  
  
"Errrmm.. eeeehh... mind giving me a push, Kiba?" he asks, but before he knew it, he was pushed out. "Heh, thanks."  
  
"Whatever." Kiba (wolf) hops out and walks along to find a nice spot to rest while the others went to find Tsume. He sees a flat icy area and lays down in the middle of it. Hige follows and lays down next to him. They both stare at the sky.  
  
It was silent for a while. They both stared at clouds and shaped them out. Hige breaks the silence.  
  
"Sorry about yesterday, I thought for a second you were going to knock her out." Hige explains.  
  
Kiba was silent for a moment before he spoke.  
  
"To tell you the truth... I was about to." he admits. "I was going to, and leave her there since we didnt need another one following us. But then I remembered something..."  
  
He stops.  
  
"Remembered what?" Hige asks.  
  
"Secret... but if you tell me a secret of your's, I'll tell you it." Kiba seemed to grin slightly.  
  
"Exchange secrets?"  
  
Kiba nods.  
  
"But it has to be use of me, if you tell, I can tell someone." (Kiba)  
  
"Uhh..." Hige thinks. "Okay, I got it, you first."  
  
"No, you."  
  
"Why? You!!"  
  
"Your first."  
  
"No, you."  
  
"But I made up the deal."  
  
"Okay, okay..." Hige turns red slightly. "I think I might like Kira."  
  
Kiba was silent. No expression swept across his face, just a blank stare at the sky.  
  
"I thought she could have been... my sister." he seemed to choke on "sister", but Hige didnt notice.  
  
((For all of you Wolf's Rain freakos who know he doesnt have a sis or someone else is his sis whatever mumbo jumbo, drop it, it's a fanfic.))  
  
"Your sister??" Hige's eyes widen. "I didnt know you had a sis."  
  
"She could be..." Kira looks away from the clouds and turns his face away from Hige. "Im not sure..."  
  
[Meanwhile...]  
  
"Tsume!! Tsume!!" Toboe yells. "Tsume!! Tsume!! Tsssuuuuuummeeeeee!!!"  
  
"I just hope this isnt my fault..." Kira looks down at the ground.  
  
"Hey, hey, it's not your fault." Toboe nudges her head up with his snout. "What makes you think that?"  
  
"Because... he got mad at me last night." a flashback in her head appears of the scene. "I was looking at his face, trying to see if I could recall who he was, because he looked awfully familiar... but then again, Kiba and Tsume both look familiar to me..."  
  
"And?" (Toboe)  
  
"And... he woke up while I was looking at him. He choked me and demanded for why I was doing that, but I couldnt speak. I started to cry... then Kiba... attacked to make him let go. And that was pretty much it."  
  
((Oh shit, just remembered suddenly. Kira is about the age of Toboe.. uhh... a lil older. About the age between Kiba and Toboe.))  
  
"Oh.. I must have been sleeping." Toboe looks up and begins calling for Tsume again.  
  
"Yes, you were..." Kira helps.  
  
"Tsume!! Tsume!!" Toboe howls. "Tsumeeeeeee-huh?"  
  
Toboe steps on something. It looked like a bolt. It sinks into the snow.  
  
"What is it?" Kira asks.  
  
"I dont know, I stepped on something." he shrugs. "Oh well... Tsume!! Tsume!!"  
  
[Tsume...]  
  
Tsume peeks out of a window from a deserted building in the ruins. He could hear his name being called by the two pups.  
  
Hmph, they'll have to give up soon... he thought. He didnt really want to go, but he didnt like the presence of Kira there. He hated her. Hated her for what she had done to him before... No, not the incident at the night. But what she had done to him... in the past.  
  
Luckily she doesnt remember... he grins. Otherwise, she'd probably attacked me by now. Not that I really care...  
  
"Tsummeeeeee!! Tsummmeeeeee!!" Toboe calls out. Tsume peeks out of the window again and notices they've come close enough for him to see them.  
  
"Tsume! Tsume!! Tsume!!!" Kira howls.  
  
Toboe runs up to a cliff sort of thing.  
  
((Kinda like Lion King thing, you know what teh hell mey talkin' about if you've watch Wolf's Rain...))  
  
"Tsummeeeee!!" he howls.  
  
Tsume was about to poke his head back in, untill he notices something moving under the cliff Toboe was standing on.  
  
"Hm?..." he mumbles, but it seemed to come from the back of his throat.  
  
The end of a machine gun could be seen from under a piece of metal, or something. It pokes out and aims at Toboe.  
  
"Oh shit!" Tsume jumps out of the window and jumps to Toboe. The gun shoots.  
  
[Back to Kiba and Hige...]  
  
Kiba's ears perk up and twitch.  
  
"Hm? Hear something?" Hige asks.  
  
"I thought I did... but Im not sure..." Kiba looks back suspisiously.  
  
"So anyways, if she was your sister, why dont you want her to know?" (Hige)  
  
"Because..." Kiba looks back at the clouds. "...of what happened in the past."  
  
"Hmm... what did happen in your past anyways?" Hige curiously asks.  
  
"...Not much..." he begins to have flashbacks of his past. "...Not much at all..."  
  
[Back to Tsume, Kira, and Toboe (now all human now!!)...]  
  
"Tsume, are you alright?" Toboe asks and tries to help the limping wolf. He had been shot in the leg trying to move Toboe out of the way.  
  
"Get away from me!!" Tsume pushes his head away, making him fall to the ground. Kira walks over to him and helps him up.  
  
"Im sorry if I made you mad last night..." Kira says quietly to Tsume. He glares at her.  
  
"I dont care," he growls. "You're better off not knowing why I decided to go my own way."  
  
He continues to walk away.  
  
I wonder why he risked his life to save Toboe... Kira thought. Her and Toboe continue to follow him.  
  
"What was that thing anyways?" Toboe ponders.  
  
"I dont fucking know, but we better get the hell out of here before it comes back..." Tsume stops dead in his tracks. He looks over his shoulder, past the two pups. It was some sort of machine, with red lens sensors, which looked like eyes. It had a huge machine gun-like arm, and moved on one of those army tank kind of things.  
  
Toboe and Kira both slowly turn their heads. The machine stood several feet away from them. Using it's heat sensors, it tracks down the three wolves. It aims it's gun at them, ready to shoot.  
  
"SHIT! RUN!!" Tsume breaks into a run, Toboe and Kira dashing behind him.  
  
The machine shoots at them, all of them dodging all of the hits. It moves forward after the wolves.  
  
The three stop at a drop. It was probably a 3 story drop, but Tsume hesitates with the wound on his leg.  
  
"We're gunna have to jump." he says while moving along forward and jumping off the edge. He lands hard on all four. A sharp pain ran through his whole leg.  
  
"Aaargh..." he mumbles quietly. Moments later, Toboe and Kira hop down to Tsume. They quickly get up and continue running. The machine stops at the edge. It searches around to target the three again. It continues forward and jumps down. Since it was literally a big hunk of metal, it falls down like a huge rock and makes the earth vibrate.  
  
Damn, that doesnt even stop it?? Tsume thinks. Suddenly, the ice below Kira (human) begins to crack. A hole forms under her foot, causing her foot to fall in. Toboe stops and notices this. He runs back to get her. Tsume stops and growls. (okay, everyone human now)  
  
"What now??" he snarls. Toboe makes it over to Kira. Tsume runs back to make sure Toboe would be alright, but when he came close, the ice completely shatters and breaks underneath them, causing the three to fall down into a fairly large opening. It looks like there was once a river there. It was definatly a longer fall than before...  
  
[Back to Kiba and Hige...]  
  
"You dont want to tell me why?" Hige says with a slight whine tone.  
  
"No." Kiba says flatly.  
  
"Aww.." Hige glances back at the sky. "Hey, if she is your sister, you wouldnt mind me liking her, would you?"  
  
Kiba was silent. Hige keeps quiet as well, trying not to be rude.  
  
"Uhhaa... yeah..." Hige looks away and back at the sky. He wonders if he should tell Kira the truth, but still wasnt really sure of his feelings towards her. He suspects that Toboe has feelings for her too, he notices he was acting strangly ever since she came. And now he seemed to care about Kira a lot.  
  
Hige takes a deep breath and sighs. He figures he has to think over if he loved her or not.  
  
[Back to Tsume, Kira, and Toboe...]  
  
Tsume groans. He smelled Kiba near his nose. He stirs slightly before opening his eyes. He looks down at his leg and notices Toboe was licking his wound. He was slightly disgusted.  
  
"Dont touch me!!" he pushes his head away from his leg. He had Kiba's jacket over him, and notices his head was laying on something. He looks up and realizes his head was resting on Kira's lap... but what he saw, he wasnt expecting.  
  
SHIT!! he could see up Kira's tanktop. His face turns a nice shade of red. He looks away, but cant help glancing back at it occationally. He looks around and notices they were in some sort of a small cave.  
  
"Where's the thing that was attacking us?..." Tsume mumbles.  
  
Kira looks down at him and smiles.  
  
"It's okay, it's gone now." Toboe explains. "We should be safe now."  
  
Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound above them. Small chunks of the top of the cave was begining to fall. Seconds later, it stops. Everyone was silent and still. Suddenly the machine appears infront of the cave from above. It had fallen down the cliff. It falls hard with a large "BOOM" and makes the earth shake once again, but this time, it could probably be felt from a mile away.  
  
"What the..." Tsume's eyes grow wide. "THAT FALL DIDNT EVEN STOP IT??"  
  
He sits up and was about to stand up but his wound was keeping him down. They all sit there still, waiting for the machine to spot them.  
  
[Back to Kiba and Hige...]  
  
Kiba bolts upright like he was shocked or something was about to hit him. He starts to growl slightly in the back of his throat. He breaks into a run deeper into the ruins to find Tsume, Kira, and Toboe.  
  
"Hey! Wait!" Hige stands up and trots along behind Kiba, then into a run. "Where are you going??"  
  
Kiba was silent an kept on running. He didnt have time to tell Hige, he just had to get there fast...  
  
[Annddd... back to Tsume, Kira, and Toboe...]  
  
The machine seemed to look around, and finally spots the three. An idea hits Toboe.  
  
"Kira, take Tsume and run. I'll distract the thing so you two can get away." he (wolf) says but before Kira or Tsume could say anything, he runs out of the cave. The machine notices this and turns it's attention to Toboe.  
  
"Come on." Kira gets up, puts Kiba's jacket back on and helps Tsume up. He definatly didnt like Toboe's idea since he had to be stuck with her. But there was nothing else for him to do. He stands up and Kira stands beside him and puts his arm over her shoulders to help him walk.  
  
They both walk out of the cave as fast as Tsume could go. They walk the other direction of where Toboe was distracting the machine.  
  
You better stay alive, Toboe... she thinks.  
  
"Hey!! Over here you big stupid thing!!" Toboe taunts. He runs away from Tsume and Kira who were escaping. Kira glances at Toboe, he looks back. A strange expression swept across her face, which he noticed, and quickly fades away. She turns back around to Tsume.  
  
The machine stops and spots the two escaping. It turns around and moves towards them.  
  
"Hey!" Toboe says annoyed and runs after the machine to get it's attention again.  
  
Tsume trips over something and falls, Kira going down with him. She turns her head to face Tsume.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asks worried.  
  
"Wha' do you care??" he snaps and attempts to get up by himself but that only caused his wound to open up. A puddle of blood starts to form. They both look back and see the machine behind them, ready to shoot. Kira suddenly throws her arms around Tsume's neck and holds on tightly. She was shivering, he could feel it.  
  
It's over... he thinks and puts a hand on her back.  
  
Suddenly, Kiba appears and jumps onto the machine. He bites the gun part and holds on tightly. The machine spins and tries to throw him off. It thrashes hard, throwing Kiba around, but he still held on.  
  
"Hey!!" Kira hears Hige's voice. "Kira! Tsume! Over here!!"  
  
Hige (human) waves and points to a way they could get out. Kira lets go of Tsume, helps him up and both hurry to Hige. Toboe runs over to them and trots along beside Kira, making sure they would make it.  
  
Kiba lets go and goes flying onto a flat surface jabbing out of the edge of the cliff. The machine aims it's gun at him and shoots. He doesnt move. A cloud of snow rises around him from shooting. He emerges from the small cloud with a huge icicle in his mouth. He lands ontop of the machine and stabs it into the gun part. He jumps off and follows where the others escaped.  
  
The sound of water could be heard from a distance. Like a waterfall, a river of water emerges from the path of the river-like cliff. The machine gets hit by the flow and flows along the river...  
  
[Back to the wolves...]  
  
(Everyone wolf now)  
  
The five ran off ahead and away from the ruins. They didnt want to run into the machine again.  
  
(Human...)  
  
Tsume held his leg. It had stopped bleeding and Toboe had wrapped a cloth around it, just like he did to Kira.  
  
"Why..." Tsume growls. "Why did you come save me? And dont say it's because Im your 'friend'..."  
  
"Well that's easy," Kiba says calmly. "It was instinct."  
  
Tsume didnt have anything else to say. He was beat, he didnt have anything else to say back. He turns around and continue on their journey to Paradise. (now wolf)  
  
Kira takes off Kiba's jacket and holds it out to him.  
  
"I dont need it anymore, it's actually quite warmer, enough for me to handle." she smiles. "Thank you, it kept me warm."  
  
A flashback suddenly hits Kiba's mind. It was his sister, smiling at him and giving him his jacket before he went out. But the flashback quickly fades away...  
  
He takes the jacket and smiles slightly back. He throws it over him and slips it on. He (wolf) turns and catches up to Tsume.  
  
The search for my sister... Kiba thinks. ...has ended.  
  
(Everyone wolf now...)  
  
Toboe, Hige, and Kira all run off to catch up with Tsume and Kiba, continuing their journey to Paradise...  
  
End of Chapter 3. 


	4. City Gone Trash

NOTE: Okay, whoa whoa whoa, I just read the reviews... Tsume and Kira??? Did it seem like Tsume and Kira????? ...I was more aiming towards Hige and Kira... Oh well, just let the story flow I guess I can fix it somewhat...  
  
Chapter 4: City Gone Trash  
  
(wolf)  
  
The five wolves run near a train. Kira could see a little girl looking at them from the corner of her eye.  
  
[Later...]  
  
(human)  
  
They sit on the cold snow, well... Tsume is laying down, and rest. They had been running for hours and miles.  
  
"I had a dream that we made it to Paradise... it felt so real." Toboe says excited. "It was so cool there! My grandmother was there and she was taking care of us!"  
  
Kira silently listens and smiles. Kiba listens as well. Tsume grins.  
  
"And we were in a field of lunar flowers, it was like it didnt end! And my grandmother fed us with delisious food, and we were treated like special guests..." Toboe thinks back at the dream, although it was slightly foggy.  
  
"Heh, you dont know what Paradise even looks like." Tsume smirks.  
  
"Yeah, but it was so cool and there was even music..." Toboe trails off.  
  
"Tell me what color lunar flowers are, hmm?" Hige grins.  
  
"Well uhhmm..." Toboe looks down and thinks.  
  
"It was just a dream." Kira speaks up, everyone turns their head to look at her. "Dreams can be anything you imagine, right or wrong."  
  
She just didnt want everyone picking on Toboe. She was starting to blush but hides it. No one else spoke after that untill the rest was over. Kira glances at Toboe and smiles. He didnt have much of a reaction.  
  
[About a couple hours later...]  
  
(human)  
  
They were walking up a steep hill. Toboe was lagging behind, tired. The others make it to the top of the hill and stop to stare at what layed ahead of them. Toboe notices this and hurrys up the hill. When he reaches the top, he stops to take several breaths before looking ahead. He looks up.  
  
Ahead of them was a bridge, a very long one. They couldnt see where it lead to because of the thick fog. Below the bridge was the ocean.  
  
"Whoa..." Toboe's eyes widen.  
  
They all slide down the hill swiftly. Kiba and Tsume balancing themselves with their feet and arms. Hige was on his belly, and Toboe was also on his belly but his feet were going down first. Kira tries out what Kiba and Tsume were doing, but after several feet down, she loses balance and starts rolling down the hill.  
  
Tsume was the first to reach the bottom, then Kiba, Kira, Hige, and Toboe. Kira was dizzy and had to have Kiba help her up. Toboe had snow in his clothes and so did Hige. Tsume just stares at the bridge. He turns to Kiba.  
  
"Hey, maybe Paradise is up ahead!" Toboe says excited.  
  
Kiba sniffs the air.  
  
"Her scent is weak, but maybe..." he confirms. They all continue running and onto the bridge. About 15minutes of running on the bridge, the fog starts to clear up and they could see what was ahead. It definatly wasnt Paradise.  
  
"Ugh..." Hige plugs his nose. "Damn, if that's Paradise, then it reeks!!"  
  
"It's not..." Toboe looks down slightly.  
  
"Atleast we'll have somewhere to stay..." Kira says quietly. They stare at the small island and the castle-like town on it for a moment before running off to reach the town.  
  
[Reaching town...lalala...]  
  
The wolves jump down from the wall that surrounds the town, they had made it inside.  
  
Kiba lands on his feet and a hand and Tsume does the same and stands up. Toboe had one leg on the ground but slips and falls. Kira lands on just her two feet and glances ahead. Hige lands on three, one hand plugging his nose.  
  
"Eww, it smells like rotten stuff and oil!!" he was gaging and looking green.  
  
Tsume walks along the path that was ahead of them.  
  
"Hey, wait up!" Toboe catches up to him and follows. Kiba waits for Kira who was seeing if Hige was okay. He says he'll be alright and the three continue.  
  
The wolves notice the townspeople were hiding from them. Closing their shades, keeping away from windows, and peeking at them. Kira stays close to Hige, who was the closest person to her.  
  
"Are they afraid of us?" Toboe asks.  
  
"I dont know, looks like they're just not used to visitors." Hige comments.  
  
They wander around the small city. They walk along the wall of the city for a while and comes across several people...  
  
The wolves stop and stare at the group of people. They were sitting in a circle around a fire in a empty oil tank.  
  
A woman... Toboe spots a woman in the group with her hood over her head.  
  
"It's dangerous for a bunch of kids to be wandering around in the allys at this time." a man with a large scar on the left side of his face smirks.  
  
They all chuckle quietly. Kira holds tightly onto Hige's sleeve and stands behind him. He looks at the sky nervously.  
  
"Ahh, so what's a bunch of kids doing around here?" Zali asks them.  
  
((His name is Zali, right? Or something close to there... I dunno...))  
  
"We're going somewhere..." Tsume narrows his eyes. "We're just stopping by..."  
  
"So where ya headed?"  
  
The wolves were silent.  
  
"To Paradise!" Toboe steps forward slightly.  
  
Zali begins to laugh. Then the group begins to laugh. Toboe looks at Kiba with a confused, yet sad face.  
  
"Why are they laughing, Kiba?" he asks him.  
  
"Because..." Kiba also narrows his eyes. "They dont know what Paradise is like..."  
  
"Oh we know damn well what it's like." Zali grins. The group shows their form. They were wolves too, but all were shades brown and looked more like dogs. Then take their human form again.  
  
"We once went to search for Paradise," he smirks. "And we made it there... it was more like hell than Paradise, I'd rather be here than there."  
  
Kira digs her face into Hige's arm. He turns red slightly, but at the same time was angry at the people. They continue to laugh. Kira couldnt stand it anymore and ticks. She goes wolf and growls, which could probably be heard from miles away. She bares her teeth for seconds, but then goes back to human and hides behind Hige.  
  
"Heh, what a nice little girl." Zali manages to say between his laughs. Would make a fine worker...  
  
The wolves walk away and continue wandering around the city.  
  
[30min later about...]  
  
The five sit ontop of a building on the edge of town and watch the sunset. Everyone hears a stomach growl.  
  
"Who was THAT?" Hige glances around, but notices everyone was staring at him. "Oh, heh, guess Im hungry..."  
  
Kira giggles quietly. Another stomach growls. This time, everyone turns to Tsume.  
  
"That time it was Tsume." Hige confirms. Everyone smiles.  
  
"I guess we're all hungry." Toboe turns to Kira. "Do you have anymore of that dried meat?"  
  
Kira digs her large pockets.  
  
"Uhhmm..." her pockets were empty. "Must have dropped them while I was rolling down the hill... sorry..."  
  
"Aww, man..." Hige groans. Tsume stands up and starts walking away.  
  
"Tsume, where are you going?" Hige asks.  
  
"Finding a place to sleep." he replies. Kiba stands up and follows him.  
  
"Hey, wait up, Im coming!" Toboe follows.  
  
"What? Hey! Where're you all going?" Hige glances around and notices him and Kira were the only ones there.  
  
"Come on," Kira pulls on Hige's arm to help him up.  
  
"Uh, okay.." he stands up and they both run to catch up to the others.  
  
[Walking along...]  
  
They end up walking into a graveyard. Tsume stops after he enters.  
  
"Well this is a nice place to sleep." he glances around.  
  
Kira shivers from the cold and her frightening surroundings. Hige edges closer to her while looking up at the sky with a big smile. He lowers his head to her ear.  
  
"Dont be scared," he whispers in her ear. "We're all here if anything happens."  
  
He almost said "Im here for you", but stops himself just incase she didnt feel the same towards him. She looks at him and smiles silently.  
  
They continue walking through the graveyard. The trees are bare and the ground was aging.  
  
Suddenly, a zombie-looking thing pokes it's head out of a hole.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Toboe and Hige scream. Tsume and Kiba jump back. Kira screamed and was hugging Hige tightly from behind him. She squeezes him so hard he was beginning to turn purple.  
  
"Oh, just a couple of young wolves..." the zombie-like thing says. Everyone opens their eyes and notices it was just an old wolf. He was in a hole deep hole. He turns human.  
  
"Sorry to startle you young 'uns." he apoligizes.  
  
Kira was still holding onto Hige, not as tight anymore. She snaps out and suddenly remembers what she was doing. She looks up at Hige, who was looking behind him at her, and quickly lets go. Both their faces red. She scratches the back of her head and moves on.  
  
"Why are you digging a hole?" Kiba asks. The old man looks up at the sky as if he was thinking.  
  
"Well," he slowly crawls out of the hole. "People these days know when their time is coming. Im just saving their time."  
  
"I see." Kiba nods. Kira looks down. Deaths scared her, even talking about it. The old man opens his mouth to speak.  
  
"Hmm," he puts his hands behind his back. "I see that you arnt around here...This island... it was once a beautiful place... And this very area was a large field of lunar flowers."  
  
That caught everyone's attention. Toboe steps forward.  
  
"Sir, can you tell me what color lunar flowers are?" he asks. The old man thinks once again.  
  
"Why, the color of the moon of course." he seemed to smile slightly.  
  
"Have you traveled to Paradise?" Kiba asks. The old man shifts his attention to Kiba. He turns around.  
  
"Follow me." he says. The five follow him. He stops several feet away from a tunnel that went into the earth. It was boarded up and had a small sign on it.  
  
"This..." the old man pauses. "...is beleived to be the way to Paradise."  
  
Hige plugs his nose.  
  
"Eeesh, I thought atleast Paradise would smell nice..." he begins to gag again. Kira rubs his back lightly.  
  
Zali suddenly appears behind them. He lets out a light grunt.  
  
"What are you all doing here?" he snarls.  
  
No one said anything.  
  
"Did you go through that path to get to Paradise?" Kiba asks him.  
  
"I told you, Paradise doesnt exsist. Now stop wasting your time." he walks up to the old man and they both walk past them and make their way out of the graveyard. "Now get some rest, you have work to do tomarrow." he says to the old man.  
  
Kiba turns his head away from them and at the tunnel. He stares at at for moments before joining the others to find a place to sleep.  
  
[Later...]  
  
They sit in a small old crumbled up building, which was suprisingly still up and had a roof. Many holes were in the walls, making about 3 doors and one wall busted down which just made a large opening.  
  
Kiba stares at the stars and moon near a "door". Tsume lays down infront of the busted wall and Toboe sits next to his head. Hige was laying down holding his growling stomach and Kira sat next to him. His stomach growls again.  
  
"Oooh..." he groans. "I need something to eat or Im going to die any second now!!"  
  
Kira checks her pockets again. Still nothing. Toboe was looking sad slightly.  
  
"Do you think we'll someday be like those guys in the street?" he asks.  
  
"No," Kira says. "Dont ask something like that... they probably didnt go to Paradise, they probably found something else that they beleive is Paradise..."  
  
Everything was silent for a while after that.  
  
"I think we should just give up and take those people's words." Tsume says without opening his eyes.  
  
Kira, for pretty much the first time ever since she was found, makes a saddened face. Kiba suddenly gets another flashback, but this time, it was just her face. No surroundings. It fades away slowly...  
  
"Well here's my opinion," Kiba speaks up, hoping it would make Kira feel better. "We've come this far, and she's still out there going to Paradise. My mind wont let me stop untill I find her, so I choose to continue."  
  
"Heh," Tsume grins. "Whatever..."  
  
Kiba looks away. Kira felt better slightly. She looks up and notices someone listening to their conversation.  
  
"What do you want?" she stares at the end of the broken down wall, where she could see the person's shadow. She walks out and shows herself. It was the woman from before, in the group of wolves.  
  
"I was just stopping by," she lies, or atleast Kira could tell.  
  
Kiba walks out of the "door" he was standing by and walks away. Toboe notices this.  
  
"Hey, Kiba, where are you going??" he asks, but he couldnt see him anymore. He stands up and walks out of the crumbling room and follows Kiba.  
  
"Im sure you all are hungry..." she seemed to smile slightly. Kira balls up her fists, not trusting her.  
  
"Oh, yes yes," Hige crawls towards her. "We're definately hungry, how nice of you to notice that, miss... uhmm..."  
  
"My name is Cole," she drops a green bag infront of him. "You may have that."  
  
Hige reaches into the bag and pulls out a large loaf of bread.  
  
"Wow!" his mouth waters. "I thought this place didnt have any food, thanks!!"  
  
He takes a big bite of it and chews happily. Kira, seeing that he was happy, smiles slightly. Hige pulls out another loaf and holds it out for her or Tsume to have.  
  
"Here, you guys want some?" he says with a mouthful.  
  
"No thanks." he looks away from the food.  
  
"Why not? It might be the last food you'll ever eat for a while. What about you, Kira..." Hige glances around for her, she was gone. "Oh well, I'll just save it for her."  
  
He continues munching on the bread. He turns his attention back to Cole.  
  
"Come to the train station tomarrow morning," she turns to walk away. "You might see something you like."  
  
Hige blinks at her blankly. Toboe walks in.  
  
"Hey guys, Kiba went by himself somewhere..." he starts but Tsume walks past him. "Hey, where are you going?? Hige??..."  
  
But Hige was busy filling his stomach. Toboe decides to follow Tsume. He runs to catch up with him.  
  
"Tsume, where are you going??" he asks.  
  
"Somewhere." Tsume answers, but nothing more.  
  
[To Kira...]  
  
Kira (wolf) wanders in the alleys of the trashed up city. She saw many wolves sleeping near trash cans. Some awakened by her presence, and some growl. She hurridly walks past the growling ones. She was distracted by one and runs into someone. She looks up and notices it was Zali.  
  
"Well hello there," he kneels down and holds a hand out to pet her, but she folds her ears back and backs away. "Dont worry, I wont hurt ya."  
  
He grins and reaches into his jacket pocket. He pulls out a small piece of meat and holds it out to her. Something wasnt right to her.  
  
She slowly creeps closer to the meat. She was hungry, but didnt know if she could trust him.  
  
"Come on," he whispers. "That's it, you dont have to be afraid."  
  
Kira bites onto the meat and starts chewing it. Zali lets go of it, letting her eat it. He places a hand on her head and runs his hand down her neck, feeling her pure white fur.  
  
"You're a unique color," he pets her several more times. She finishes the piece of meat and looks up at him with her crimson red eyes.  
  
"Would you like to work for me tomarrow?" he asks her. "Just for tomarrow, one thing. I'll even give you these."  
  
Zali pulls out a plastic bag full of cubed cooked meat. It would have been enough to feed about 3 wolves. Kira looks at him with a slight saddened face. She wanted to give food to the others, knowing they were hungry. She turns into human and nods.  
  
"Just tell me what I have to do." she whispers, in a slight hissing tone.  
  
((Yeah yeah, I know Zali wouldnt do this but there's a reason I guess...))  
  
[Tsume and Toboe...]  
  
They walk into a train station and jump to the top deck. Tsume sees a bench and sits on it, as well as Toboe.  
  
"Well, found my sleeping spot." Tsume glances at Toboe, who seemed to look sad. "What's up with you?"  
  
Toboe looks up at Tsume.  
  
"Do you think what they said about Paradise is real? That it doesnt exsist?" he asks him. Tsume closes his eyes and thinks.  
  
"Maybe." he opens his eyes and looks at the ceiling. "Come to think of it, no one probably really knows."  
  
Toboe glances away and stands up. He starts walking around the train station, just wandering around...  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira (wolf) walks back to where she last saw Hige and Tsume with the plastic bag full of meat in her mouth. She thinks what she had to do over again.  
  
Train station early in the morning, meet him near the train tracks... she stops for a moment, remembering the suspisious thing he had said. He said I had to be wolf... and that he'd put something on me and place me with other wolves... he also told me to just pull...  
  
She snaps out and continues walking towards the crumbled room. She notices Hige was finishing up a piece of bread. He turns around and waves to her. She starts to trot towards him and notices he was the only one there...  
  
"Hey, where'd you go?" Hige asks as Kira was turning human again. "And where'd you get THAT?"  
  
He stares at the bag of meat and his mouth starts to water.  
  
"I was just wandering around the streets." she says and drops the plastic bag infront of her.  
  
"I found these." she lies. "I brought them back for us to eat but... I guess everyone left..."  
  
"Well then it's just for you and me!" he smiles and pops a couple pieces of meat into his mouth. "Mmm! These are good."  
  
Kira pulls one out and nibbles on it, and eventually finishes it. She looks up at Hige, who had stopped eating and was staring at her with a smile.  
  
"What?" she felt nervous. They were alone together for once, giving her a chance to explain something...  
  
"Nothing." he looks away and slowly eats the meat, glancing at her occationally.  
  
"Uhhmm..." Kira's cheeks turn pink slightly. "Sorry...I didnt mean to cling onto you earlier... you were just close by and... yeah..."  
  
Hige swallows and smiles.  
  
"It's alright." he winks. "I guess I have something to say too."  
  
Hige scratches the back of his head. Kira had all her attention on him.  
  
"I..." he looks up and turns red, yet a smile stretched across his face. "...I... uhh... well... what Im trying to say is...I like you."  
  
((That was lame, wasnt it? I couldnt think of anything else for him to say.))  
  
He looks down and glances at her to see her reaction. She just stared at him with a blank expression, her mouth open a crack.  
  
"Umm..." he looks down and his smile starts to fade away slowly. Kira snaps out of her daze and looks down.  
  
"I like you too." she looks up and smiles at him sweetly. He glances at her and smiles back. All was still and silent for a while. Hige was done eating the meat cubes.  
  
"Uhmm..." Kira breaks the silence. "Im going to go find the others, see where they are..."  
  
"Oka-" Hige starts but was cut off by Kira. She hugs him tightly and it lasts for about 5min. He puts his arms around her and holds her while she held him. She lets go and turns wolf. She grabs the bag of meat in her mouth and starts trotting off.  
  
If I were Kiba, Toboe, or Tsume... where would I be? Kira asks her self sarcasticly.  
  
[Kiba...]  
  
Kiba wanders around in the streets of the small city. He took this time to daydream and think about things. He turns a corner and ends up running into the pack of wolves he saw earlier with Zali, except he wasnt there.  
  
"Oh look, it's one of them that are going to 'Paradise'" Moss smirks. They all laugh at Kiba, who just stood there silently.  
  
((Moss, thats what I heard his name was... I dunno. The dude with the big nose... uhh, he keeps the workers or something I guess.))  
  
"If this what you do all day?" Kiba says without facing them. "Do nothing? Dont you have anything else to do in your lives? You're all just like..."  
  
Kiba grins.  
  
"...a bunch of stray dogs."  
  
The pack stops laughing. Moss steps closer to him.  
  
"A bunch of dogs?" he frowns. The others creep closer and surround him.  
  
"Well lets see what a bunch of dogs can do."  
  
(all wolf now)  
  
They attack Kiba, biting and scratching him. He fights back hard, but there were too many...  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira trots along to the train station. She wanted to know where it was first, so she decided to go there.  
  
"Damn, this bag is getting heavy..." she mumbles and drops the bag. She tilts it over a little and drops about a dozen onto the ground. Then picks it up and carries on.  
  
She walks in from the opening on the top deck. She walks towards the railing and looks down at where she was supposed to meet Zali.  
  
"Hmm...-" she turns her head and sees Toboe and Tsume sleeping on a bench. She slowly walks towards them. Tsume opens one eye, then the other and sits up.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he growls. Kira drops the bag at his feet and nudges it towards him with her snout.  
  
"What's this?..." Tsume mumbles and grabs into the bag. He pulls out a cube of meat and bites half of it.  
  
"Where did you get this?" he asks after swallowing.  
  
"I found them." Kira (human) lies again.  
  
"You're lying." Tsume says flatly.  
  
"Erm..." Kira looks away. "Fine... I stole them from some guy on th street."  
  
She glances at him, waiting for a reply. He shrugs and eats the other half.  
  
"Dont eat all of it..." she whispers. "I still have to give some to Kiba..."  
  
She walks over to the sleeping Toboe and pokes his cheek. He opens his eyes a crack and blinks several times before sitting up. He rubs his eyes and notices Tsume eating.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Toboe grabs into the bag and pulls out a meat cube. He eats the piece with one bite.  
  
"Mmm!!" he helps himself to a couple more pieces. "Who's are these?"  
  
"I found them." Kira says and glances at Tsume, but he didnt say anything. "Dont eat all of it please... I still have to give some to Kiba."  
  
They both eat a few more pieces and stop, leaving about 9 pieces for Kiba. Kira (wolf) grabs the bag in her mouth and walks out. She looks back and seemed to smile, then continues.  
  
Toboe sighs as she watches her walk out. He didnt smile, nor did he frown. He had a sad look on his face.  
  
"Hm?" Tsume notices this. "What's wrong with you? Didnt have enough to eat?"  
  
Toboe shakes his head no. He lays back down on the bench. Tsume stares at him blankly and lays down as well.  
  
"Then what?" Tsume asks.  
  
Toboe was silent for a while. He opened his mouth once in a while as if ready to speak. He finally did later.  
  
"Have you... ever... been in love?" Toboe asks Tsume. Tsume sits up and stares at him with his mouth wide open.  
  
"Dont tell me..." Tsume trailed off.  
  
"I might like Kira..." Toboe whispers. Tsume's eye twitches. He lay back down and held half of his face with one hand.  
  
Oh great, he thinks. This is not happening...  
  
They both didnt say anything else for the rest of the night and they soon fell asleep.  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira walks along to find Kiba. She walks along the alleys and at the side of streets. She hears several low growling noises and some yelping. She runs over to where the noises were coming from and stops when she arrives.  
  
She drops the bag infront of her. Her fur stands strait up and her tail fluffs out. She growls incredibly loud, snarling sometimes.  
  
Moss turns to her, along with a few more wolves, but some continued to attack Kiba.  
  
"Get away from him you fat ass street dogs!!" she screams and charges towards them, but was stopped by Moss.  
  
"You touch them and you'll-OW!" he starts but Kira bites his snout. She bites his back and pushes him away. She snarls at the wolves. Some stared at her, but some ignored.  
  
Kira snaps her jaw at the wolves, trying to bite their tails and drag them away. Some bit back, but she would fight back. She could see Kiba was fighting hard to keep the wolves away from him. He was badly injured already.  
  
"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!!" she screams and didnt realize tears were starting to stream down her furred cheek. She pushes them away, one by one, but they kept coming back.  
  
"Kira, get away!!" Kiba yells at her. But she couldnt leave him there with the wolves, something kept her there fighting. She makes her way out of the mess and stands there for a second. Then turns to Moss.  
  
She dashes towards him with her jaw wide open. She clamps her jaws around his neck and bites down hard. She pushes him against a wall and lets go.  
  
"Tell them to stop!" she snarls.  
  
"Heh..." he smirks. "Make me..."  
  
Kira steps on the wound she had made in his neck with one paw and digs her claws into it. He yelps and ribbons of blood starts to shoot from his neck.  
  
"One last time," she whispers in hsi ear. "Tell them to stop."  
  
Moss nods. Kira removes her blood-soaked paw from his neck and onto the ground. Moss snarls at the wolves, telling them to back off. All of he wolves back away slowly and turn to Kiba and Kira who was helping him stand. (human now)  
  
The pack laugh at them, all except Moss, who was holding onto his bleeding neck. He just sat there grinning.  
  
Kira puts Kiba's arm around her shoulders and they both walk away from the pack, grabbing her plastic bag on the way. She leads Kiba several blocks away and set him down in an alley. She sits next to him and burys her face in her hands.  
  
Kiba notices this and creeps closer to her, wincing from the wounds.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asks while lightly trying to remove her hands away from her face. She removes her hands. Kiba could see the globs of tears streaming down her red cheeks. She crys and hiccups softly.  
  
Kiba's eyes grow wide. He, once again, has a flashback. This time he was standing in the grass. Kira cried softly as she was doing now, with small feathers blowing around her. Kiba had a small dead sparrow in his hands with a bite mark across it's whole body. He was shaking uncontrolably. Then the flashback ends and fades away into a light mist...  
  
"Im sorry..." he whispers under his breath, his eyes still widen. Somewhat shaken by the flashback. He puts his arms around her and holds her lightly, he couldnt hold her tightly from his wounds. He rests his head against Kira's and closes his eyes.  
  
"It's...it's... i-hic..." she manages to say between her hiccups. "...the...th-the...hic...city-hic..."  
  
"What about it?" Kiba whispers into her ear.  
  
"It...hic..." the knee part of her jeans become soaked in tears. "...hic...I...cant... stand-hic...it..."  
  
Kiba nods and was ready to fall asleep.  
  
"Why dont you go back to Hige and sleep?" he slowly removes his arms from Kira and lays down. "I'll be fine... I want to sleep a... alone..."  
  
Kiba closes his eyes and falls asleep. Kira could hear his breath lightly. She wipes the tears away from her face and runs her hand through his dark brown hair. She stands up and makes her way back to the crumbled room.  
  
[Hige...]  
  
Hige lays down on his back and puts his hands behind his head. He takes a deep breath and sighs.  
  
"Kira..." he whispers. He closes his eyes. He thinks back to the times he was with her. During his thoughts, something wet and slippery streaks across his face. He opens his eyes and sees a white wolf, licking his face.  
  
"Hehehe... stop that, Kira!" he giggles. "Hehe... that, heh, tickles!!"  
  
Kira stops and seemed to smile. She nuzzles with Hige and licks him once more before turning human. She glomps onto him and squeezes tightly. She thought of him as a big warm and fluffy teddy bear.  
  
((Glomp means like a tackle hug...))  
  
"Did you find everyone?" Hige asks while holding her. She pulls herself up closer to Hige's head, resting the bridge of her nose on his neck.  
  
"Yeah..." Kira whispers. "Toboe and Tsume at the train station, Kiba... in an alley."  
  
Hige runs his fingers down her arm, which was around his neck. He felt scratches and something wet. He looks at his fingers which were spotted in blood. His eyes widen.  
  
"Kira..." Hige wipes the blood off on his sweatshirt and puts his hand through her long black hair. "What happened?"  
  
Kira didnt say anything at first.  
  
"Uhmm..." she taps her finger on her chin while thinking. "Kiba... when I found him, he was in a fight with those wolves we saw earlier..."  
  
She trails off.  
  
"And you helped him?" Hige guesses. She nods.  
  
"I would have stayed but he told me to go back to you, he said he wanted to sleep alone." (Kira)  
  
Hige nods and holds onto her tightly. Kira sighs and relaxes. She slowly begins to fall asleep in his arms. He closes his eyes and tries to sleep.  
  
[The next morning (really early)]  
  
Kira's eyes slowly open. The sun was ready to awaken and rise. She looks around her and realizes Hige was holding onto her fairly tight. She slowly lowers herself and slips out, trying not to wake him up. He stirs slightly before holding still again.  
  
Kira creeps close to him and runs her hand through his messy brown hair before going wolf and running towards the train station. She could hear a train coming from the bridge...  
  
[Train station]  
  
"Get all of 'em harnessed?" Zali yells over to Moss who was finishing up putting a harness on a wolf.  
  
"Yeah, almost." he grunts. When he was finished, he glances around for the last wolf.  
  
"Ey, where's the last one??" he glances around. "Dont 'ell me he's late..."  
  
"He called in sick." Zali explains. "But dont worry, I got a replacment... she should be here soon."  
  
"Is it one of those kids 'e saw earlier?" Moss smirks.  
  
"What if it is?" Zali looks at him in the eyes. "She's just here for today, that's it."  
  
"Hahahahaha!!" Moss laughs with a hint of evil. "She?? That stupid lil' albino one?? Hah!!"  
  
Zali looks away and waits for Kira to arrive. She comes trotting in from a broken down door. She stops infront of him and looks up at him with her light red eyes.  
  
"You're a little late." he confirms, but didnt seem to care. He takes out a harness from his jacket and straps it onto her. He pulls onto a metal ring on the back of the harness lightly and guides Kira to the other wolves who were tied onto one whole thing.  
  
((One o' those sled dog things, you know what Im talking about...))  
  
Zali clips her on like the other wolves were. He crouches down to talk to her.  
  
"When the load gets here, just walk forward and pull. They'll give you a break after the first slope." he explains slowly. "If you do what you're supposed to, they wont hurt you..."  
  
With that said, he backs away from them and watches the crew unload and place the load on he back of the sled thing. Kira stared in disbelief.  
  
This is what they do?? she thought. This is... wha... creepy...  
  
She turns away and notices the old wolf they saw yesterday in the graveyard. He was a couple rows ahead of her, with a harness on and attatched to the sled, like her. Her eyes widen, to think that they would make someone old do this...  
  
[Hige...]  
  
Hige stirs again and yawns. He opens one eye to look at Kira, but was shocked when he saw she wasnt there. He looks around if she was anywhere, but she wasnt. He (wolf) dashes towards the train station...  
  
[Tsume and Toboe...]  
  
"Toboe, wake up!!" Tsume shakes Toboe. He groans and looks up at him.  
  
"What is it?" he whispers. Tsume points to the railing. He gets up and walks over to it and looks down. Tsume walks over to him and pushes his head down. They both crouch down while looking at the wolves who were strapped to the sled. Hige comes running in (on the top deck where Tsume and Toboe were) and spots the two.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Hige (human) crouches down next to Toboe and looks down. He spots Kira with a harness on and on the sled. His eye's widen in suprise.  
  
"Wha... the..." he couldnt beleive it. "Is... is that Kira??"  
  
"It is..." Tsume didnt realize he was clutching onto the railing so tight that he was beginning to bend it. When he notices he was, he slowly lets go and didnt understand why he did.  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira glanced around cluelessly. She didnt really know what was going on, but a moment later, she heard whips being whipped around. The sled began to move and the other wolves were pulling. She helps too, like she was told, but it was extremely heavy. She keeps an eye on the old wolf ahead of her.  
  
[Tsume, Toboe, and Hige]  
  
"I dont understand..." Toboe presses his forehead against the railing. "Did she volenteer to do this? Was she forced?..."  
  
"Let's just say she was bribed." the others turn to Tsume, who had spoken.  
  
"What?... How?!?" Hige asks confused.  
  
"The meat..." Tsume turns to them. "She saw we were hungry, so she must have run into Zali, who probably had the meat..."  
  
"But she said she found that!" Toboe says, but Tsume chuckles lightly.  
  
"Cant you tell when someone is lying?" he grins. They all glance back down at Kira.  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira pulls hard, but the small cuts she had gotten last night was holding her back slightly. She looks up at three figures on the top deck.  
  
Shit... she thinks. Hige's here too??  
  
She looks away and continues pulling. Suddenly, the old wolf was slowing down and eventually stopped. He was panting hard. The crew near him shot their whips at him. He stops panting and falls to the ground lifelessly.  
  
This made Kira stop. She didnt move, even though the crew shot their whips at her. One smacked her on her forhead and made her yelp. She shakes her head and tugs away, trying to free herself from the sled...  
  
[Tsume, Toboe, and Hige...]  
  
"Kira..." Hige whispers under his breath.  
  
Tsume and Hige looked pissed off, but Toboe was worried. He glances around and spots Kiba nearby, watching the whole thing happen. Toboe tugs on Tsume and Hige's sleeves and points to Kiba.  
  
"Kiba?? What's he..." Tsume trails off.  
  
[Kira...]  
  
Kira tugs hard, even though the whips were starting to bruise her. The metal loop bends, setting her free. She growls at the crew with the whips and trots towards the old wolf. She nudges her snout onto him, trying to get him up.  
  
"Old man..." she whimpers and could feel several tears coming. She was getting annoyed by the whips and fights back by biting them. She bites onto them and tosses them away. From the corner of her eye, she sees Kiba. He seemed shocked.  
  
Zali notices Kira had freed herself and went to help the old wolf. He didnt know what to do. The crew was getting their guns out. But at the same time, he notices Kiba, who seemed ready to attack the crew.  
  
Kiba snaps out of his shock. He balls up his fists, enraged. He (wolf) charges towards the crew.  
  
"Shit!" Zali (wolf) runs after Kiba and pushes him away. He (human) holds Kiba down by his neck. One of the crew was aiming his gun at Kira. It was too late when she notices this. He shoots and hits her stomach area. She cries out a yelp and runs away, out of the train station.  
  
The wolves stop at the top of the slope and was confused. The crew look at Zali.  
  
"Just a loose dog." he says before dragging Kiba away out of the train station.  
  
[Tsume, Toboe, and Hige...]  
  
Hige was in shock. He (wolf) bolts out the door and runs to find Kira.  
  
Tsume grinded his teeth slightly. He stands up, grabs the railing and pulls it off the edge. He puts it above his head and throws it at the crew. He then grabs Toboe and starts running off, out of the train station.  
  
[A little bit later]  
  
"Atleast we didnt have to dig a hole." one of the crew said, who was standing infront of the hole that the old wolf had made. His body (wolf) lay in it, dead. Zali turns around and walks towards Tsume, Toboe, and Kiba, who were standing near the cemetery entrance.  
  
"Explain what you were doing down there!!" Tsume demands. He stood next to Kiba, who was sitting down, leaning against the cement wall. Toboe was crouched down next to him.  
  
"Just stay out of our buisness," Zali growls. "...But since your friend was involved, I can say a little. We work for them to survive. They come here every week, we help them out, they provide us with food, water, so on..."  
  
"Just like scratching eachother's backs..." Toboe whispers to himself.  
  
"Well explain this!!" Tsume throws the plastic bag that Kira had brought the meat in at Zali. She had left it with Kiba last night, it still had a couple cubes of meat in it. Zali lets it hit his shoulder and drop. He didnt look at it. He continued to look at the three.  
  
"One worker called in sick," he begins to explain. "I told her if she worked for me for just today, she would get them. We cant do it with a worker missing. She accepted it and did... well, somewhat... what I told her to do. Untill you guys came..."  
  
Kiba just stared at the ground blankly. He was wondering about Kira, if she was alright...  
  
[Hige]  
  
Hige follows the trail of blood that Kira left. He follows it into an alley, not too far from the train station. He walks in and glances around.  
  
"Kira?..." he whispers, enough for it to echo through the alley. He could hear a soft crying behind a garbage can. He walks slowly towards it. She was sitting there, one hand holding where she was shot and the other wiping away her tears. A puddle of blood formed under her.  
  
"Kira..." Hige (human) sits next to her and holds her tightly. He nudges his nose onto her cheek before letting go.  
  
"Let me see the bandages on your arms and legs..." he lightly holds her hand but she quickly pulls it back to her.  
  
"I..." she was feeling slightly sleepy from the blood loss. "...there's another roll... in my pocket..."  
  
She reaches into her left pocket and pulls out a roll of bandages. Hige takes it and tells her to remove her hand from where she was shot. He wraps the bandage around her waist, then ties it. The wound was on the far left side of her waist, so nothing important was shot.  
  
"There, that should help a little..." Hige puts the remaining bandages back into her pocket. He then wraps his arms around her and holds her while her crying slowly faded away.  
  
End of Chapter 4.  
  
NOTE: Well that took me a long time... I got stuck in a lot of parts, which held me back. Especially since Hige seems to like Cole (in the series), I have to figure that one out in chapter 5... Hope ya liked... I enjoy reading reviews :) Helps me get ideas for future chapters. 


	5. The Unknown Traps

NOTE: Hmm... I didnt catch the part when Zali was talking about the tunnel filled with toxic gas and the part about Kiba's past... and a lot of more details that I lost from short-term memory... grrr... someone mentioned I have a problem with grammer.. and yes, I do. It's probably because I listen to my CD player while Im typing (which most likely distracts me) and that Im Japanese O.o... I'll try to fix it, sorrys. I dont understand some parts of past tense and stuff like that... Also, I need to know who you guys want Kira to be with o.o Currently she's with Hige but that can change I guess... A lot of people mentioned Tsume... That would be pretty intresting... anyways, hope you like this chapter...  
  
Chapter 5: The Unknown Traps  
  
Hige walked with Kira to the others, both holding eachother's hands. Kira had washed the blood off of her hands and waist with snow, although the bandages on her arms were still blood-soaked. Hige stared at the ground while walking to find the others.  
  
Hige glanced away from the ground and at Kira's bandages on her arms and legs. He was curious why she had them...  
  
"Cant say." Kira suddenly said in the middle of Hige's thinking. He looked up at her grinning face. He didnt understand.  
  
"What?..." Hige watched her grin turn into a sweet smile.  
  
"You were looking at my bandages." she wiggled her toes slightly and waved her fingers. "I cant really say why they're on... maybe later."  
  
Hige was slightly embarrassed that she had noticed him staring at her bandages. He noded and glanced back at the ground.  
  
[Tsume, Toboe, and Kiba]  
  
Toboe pushed the herbs he collected on Kiba's wounds. He layed flat on his back with his eyes closed, but awake.  
  
"There," he finished and took a small step back. "...those herbs should help your wounds heal."  
  
Kiba slowly opened his eyes halfway.  
  
"Thank you, Toboe." he said without glancing away from the sky and closed his eyes again. Toboe sighed and leand on the wall.  
  
The three were in another crumbled room, but this time, there was no roof and only had 1 and a half walls up. Tsume was leaning on the frame of the door on the half wall. He stared at the sky, daydreaming.  
  
"Huh?..." Toboe said under his breath while looking at the two figures that were coming closer to them. It was Hige and Kira.  
  
[Hige and Kira]  
  
Kira looked up and quickly let go of Hige's hand. She (wolf) trotted to Kiba's side and sat down. He slowly opened his eyes and was happy to see his little sister. He would have hugged her, but his arms were currently covered in herbs.  
  
Hige walked closer to the others and sat down, leaning on the half wall. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He opened one eye and glanced around.  
  
"Im so hungry..." Toboe whined. He held his stomach, which was begging for food. Tsume noticed this and frowned.  
  
"Well atleast SOMEONE'S gut is full." he growled and glared at Hige. Hige opened both eyes and shrugged.  
  
"Well you guys didnt want any! You all walked away... it's rude...wasting food..." he folded his arms and looked away.  
  
"You could have atleast SAVED us some..." Toboe mumbled. Tsume turned around and faced Hige.  
  
"Atleast someone was nice enough to bring us some food..." he glanced at Kira, who glanced back. Hige edged away slightly.  
  
"Go get us some food." Tsume snarled at Hige.  
  
"What? Why me?" he backed away.  
  
"Because you ate our food, NOW GO!!" he growled. Hige scrambled up to his feet and was about to go find some food, but didnt want to go alone...  
  
"Kira, wanna come along?" despite her injury, she could still walk fine. He didnt want to go alone, and he wanted to be with her...  
  
Kira glanced up and turned her head (human) to face Hige. She smiled.  
  
"Sure!" she cheerfully said. (wolf again)  
  
She licked Kiba's face. He stirred and smiled. She accidently got a large herb leaf stuck on her tongue (it sticked to her tongue). She lapped her tongue around slightly, but it still stuck. She playfully growled and tried to get the herb off.  
  
Hige giggled and Kiba grinned. Tsume couldnt help chuckling to himself, but Toboe was worried.  
  
"Uhh... Kira..." he sat up and crawled towards Kira to help get the herb off. She finally took a bite and started chewing. Toboe turned slightly pale and sat there frozen.  
  
"Kira..." he started but it was too late.  
  
Kira suddenly froze. She dropped her jaw (still wolf) and pushed the chewed up herbs out of her mouth with her tongue. She started to drool and hacked uncontrollably. Everyone silenced and stared at Kira.  
  
"Just let it the time pass... it'll go quick..." Toboe whispered in her ear and took a step back.  
  
Kira suddenly felt an intense burning in her mouth, as if her mouth was on fire. She whined and started spitting out the remains of the herb out of her mouth. Drool was trickling down every corner of her mouth and dripping. She dropped her head low down onto the ground and cried. The burning was painful, and numbing her tongue. She ran over to a small layer of snow on the ground and started to eat it as if she was mad. Moments later, the burning faded away. She (human) ran behind the building and vomited, coming back with her ears folded back against her head.  
  
Everyone stared in small shock (except Toboe). Kira dragged herself to Hige's side, using him to help her gain her balance for the moment. She stood up strait, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and silently walked ahead of Hige. He watched her, then looked back at the others who seemed clueless of what happened (except Toboe...). He shruged and trotted to catch up to Kira.  
  
Tsume was the first to snap out of his slight shock. He turned to Toboe.  
  
"Erm... what was that about?" he asked. Toboe turned to Tsume.  
  
"The herb she had chewed..." he thought for a moment. "It's not harmful or anything, but when it's chewed on, it's really... hot, like those little long red things..."  
  
Tsume and Kiba both seemed to nod slightly, then turn away into their own buisness again.  
  
"Uhh, I'll go get some more herbs." Toboe stood up and ran off.  
  
Tsume glanced back at Kiba, who had his eyes closed. He turned his head back around and stared at the ground.  
  
[Hige and Kira]  
  
Kira and Hige both walked side by side, holding eachother's hands again. They walked along silently as if they were on a walk through the park. Hige spotted something ahead and stopped. Thinking it was food, he ran to it, pulling Kira along.  
  
He stopped infront of the thing he had thought it was food, but it was just a stuffed animal.  
  
"Aww man..." he picks up the stuffed animal by the tail. It looked like a grey rat, but wasnt sure. One of the black button eyes were missing and a hole had formed in it's left... nub arm.  
  
"I thought it was food for a second..." he sighed and dropped it. Kira bends down to pick it up. She examines it and holds it tightly against her chest with one arm (the other occupied by Hige's hand). She hadnt said anything after the herb incident, he was curious why.  
  
"Did you see anything around yet?" he asked while tilting his head forward slightly to see her face. She stared at the ground while shaking her head no. He was slightly concerned.  
  
"Are you... okay?" Hige asked. Kira didnt answer. She opened her mouth as if about to speak, but nothing came out. Just a faint whine...  
  
Hige shook his head slowly, slightly confused, and continued walking along, searching for food. Kira lowered her head even more.  
  
[Tsume and Kiba]  
  
Kiba was still laying on his back with his eyes closed, resting. Tsume stirrs around nervously. He grunted and glanced at Kiba occationally.  
  
[Kira and Hige]  
  
Hige stopped nd sniffed the air. Kira stopped beside him and looked up at him. He looked down at her.  
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
  
"Food..." he continued sniffing around. "I smell food! Over there!"  
  
He ran off but Kira stayed put. She let his hand slip out of her's and watched him dash over to where ever he smelled food. She slowly walked after Hige and stopped where he had stopped.  
  
His mouth began to water as he stared at the huge chunk of meat laying around. Kira stared at it suspisiously.  
  
"Whoa! That should be enough to feed us all!!" Hige was about to run to it, but something held him back. He looked over his shoulder at Kira. Her hand was grabbed tightly onto his hood, he guessed she wouldnt be letting go anytime soon...  
  
"What?" he sheepishly asked. She tugged him back lightly.  
  
"It looks..." her knuckles turned pale. "...it doesnt feel right."  
  
"What do you mean?" he turned around. She let go and held onto his sleeve.  
  
"Isnt it a little strange?..." she pointed to the meat. "...Food isnt just laying around anywhere... especially in that form... a large amount. It isnt wasted."  
  
Kira frowned when he pulled her hand off. He placed his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Look," he said with a confident smile. "It'll be okay, it's not like people will just pop up and start shooting me."  
  
He nuzzled his nose onto her's, then turned around to fetch the meat. She didnt have time to hold him back, he had distracted her.  
  
Hige trotted to the meat. But suddenly, when he was about a foot away from the meat, four trianglular metal barred walls came rising from under the snow. It locked tightly above him.  
  
Kira and Hige both stood still, silently.  
  
She was right, it WAS a trap... the words Kira had said stirred through Hige's mind. ...what... what can I say?...  
  
He slowly turned around to face her. She still stood there, silent, yet shocked and suprised at what had just happened. Her fist was tightly against her chest while she calmed her heartbeat. She stared at Hige.  
  
What do I do?... she thought. I was right, there was something wrong with it...  
  
Hige suddenly slammed his head against the metal bars and held onto them with his hands. He felt stupid to ignore Kira...  
  
"Im sorry..." he mumbled.  
  
Kira shook her head and ran to the cage that he was trapped in. She slipped her arms between the bars and held his head, where it was leaning against the bars.  
  
"No, no... it's okay..." she rubbed his forehead, which was starting to bruise. "...You hit your head on ther pretty hard."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Here, I'll try to bend the bars open..." she said.  
  
(Both wolf now)  
  
Kira bit onto a metal bar and began chewing and pulling. Hige helped and chewed it a little before backing away from it. He (human) rubbed his jaw and moved it around.  
  
"Ow..." he held his jaw. He looked past Kira at several figures approaching them. It was Moss and three other wolves. Moss had bandages wrapped around his neck.  
  
Kira (human) stopped and turned around as a shadow was casted onto her. She stood up and glared at Moss.  
  
"Well, well, well," he said with a creepy smirk drawn on his face. "Look who got caught in the trap, the ol' 'Paradise exsists' guy."  
  
Hige stood up, held onto the bars and pressed his face against it.  
  
"Hey, is it possible for you to let me out?" he smiled innocently.  
  
The four wolves laughed.  
  
"Right, you really think we'd do that?" Moss grins.  
  
Hige sighed and pressed his face harder against the bars.  
  
"Oh, well, I thought I'd just give it a shot..." he mumbled to himself.  
  
Kira became enraged.  
  
"You did this!!" she screamed at Moss. "Let him go!!"  
  
"Why should I listen to a lowlife like you?" he snarled.  
  
"Because I said so!!" she grabbed his jacket and pushed him back, but the other wolves with them pulled her off. Moss slapped her across the face and pushed her away, causing her to fall.  
  
Kira sat on the snowy ground while holding her left cheek. Hige quickly crouched down, slipped his arms through the bars and held her face in his hands. He glared at Moss.  
  
"You'll pay for that!!" he yelled, but they just grinned and laughed.  
  
Kira shot up and punched Moss right in the bridge of his nose, sending him flying back a couple feet. The wound on her waist hurt from the punch, but she thought it was worth it.  
  
"Damn right you'll pay for that!" she screamed and pounced on him. The other wolves tried pulling her off, but she didnt let go of Moss. They began to kick at her ribs and head. Soon she let go and curled up into a ball while the wolves kicked and threw their fists at her. Hige watched in horror, for all he could do was watch...  
  
"That's enough." Moss pushed the wolves out of the way. He glanced down at the beaten up wolf. She was still curled up into a ball. A stream of blood went down her chin from her mouth and a large one trickled down from her forhead down her cheek. There was traces of blood around her, most likely from the wound on her waist. She was shaking and her breathing was shallow. She had her eyes open a crack.  
  
"Hmf..." one of the wolves mumbled.  
  
"BASTARDS!!" Hige yelled and shook the bars, hoping to break them down or something...  
  
He looked towards the town and noticed an orange truck coming. He turned his attention back to Moss and the wolves.  
  
"You..." he looked down at the ground. "You guys arnt wolves..."  
  
Moss grinned.  
  
"You guys are just some stray dogs... no... you're not dogs either... You guys arnt anything at all! You're just some... things that do nothing all day!! You're the lowlife!!"  
  
The four frowned. Moss walked up to the cage and grabbed Hige by his sweatshirt collar. He pulled him against the bars.  
  
"You can call us whatever you want," he whispered. "...but you are and always will be the lowlife."  
  
He punched Hige in the gut, causing him to black out. Moss let go and watched him (wolf) flop unconsious to the bottom of the cage. He turned around and faced Kira.  
  
"And for you..." he jerked his head towards the small hill behind them. The wolves picked her up and threw her down the hill. She rolled several feet, but was stopped by the snow.  
  
The orange truck stopped near Moss and the wolves.  
  
"Got one?" a man in the truck poked his head out of the window.  
  
Moss nodded.  
  
"Yep, it's a big one." he said.  
  
The man opened the door and hopped out. The driver backed up and parked so that they could get the cage onto the truck.  
  
Moss helped and soon, they got the cage with Hige in it onto the back of the truck.  
  
"Hmm..." he smiled. "It's probably best to just take this one down, it's looks pretty big to be trained."  
  
The man nodded and shrugged.  
  
"Maybe, we'll see." he hopped back into the truck and drove off.  
  
Moss glanced back at the other wolves for a moment, then started walking towards the town...  
  
[Toboe]  
  
Toboe ducked behind a large boulder as Moss passed him. He poked his head out to see if they were gone, and they were. He came out from hiding and ran over to the hill. He ran down to Kira, who was trying to crawl up the hill, and held her on his lap.  
  
"Kira, Kira!!" Toboe took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and started wiping the blood off from her forehead.  
  
Kira turned her head away from it. She rolled out of his lap and began crawling up the hill again.  
  
"Kira, you're hurt... you should rest!!" he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to glance at him.  
  
"Hige's not safe..." she said, but mostof it was muffled by the blood in her mouth. She let it drip out of her mouth before continuing.  
  
"But-"  
  
"NO!" she stood up and limped to the top of the hill. She saw the truck driving away quickly. She began to run after it but insteat tripped and rolled in the snow several times.  
  
Toboe catched up to her and took a moment to catch his breath. He looked down at Kira's red face, which most of it was covered by her hands.  
  
She screamed. She screamed in frusteration.  
  
[Tsume and Kiba]  
  
Kiba's eyes shot open. He sat up and glanced around, his eyes wide. Tsume was in the same reaction. His eyes were wide and he too glanced around.  
  
"The howl..." Kiba whispered to himself. "Kira..."  
  
He stood up, but fell back down from his wounds.  
  
"We have to find her..." he mumbled.  
  
Tsume walked towards Kiba. He picked him up and put him on he shoulder.  
  
"Wha-" Kiba blinked in suprise. "What are you doing? Put me down!"  
  
"No," Tsume began running. "You'll only slow me down."  
  
(wolf)  
  
He ran with the white wolf on his back.  
  
[Hige]  
  
(human)  
  
Hige slowly opened his eyes between his blinking. His eyes grew wide as he scanned his surroundings. He groaned.  
  
"So it wasnt a dream..." he mumbled and scratched the back of his head. "Hmm... I could have sworn that I heard a howl..."  
  
He stood up and grabbed onto the bars.  
  
"Hey!!" he yelled at the drivers in the truck. "Look back here!! HEY!!"  
  
[Drivers]  
  
"Hmm..." the man in the passanger's seat said. "Maybe Moss was right about taking it down, that dog was pretty big."  
  
"Yeah," said the driver. "Darn things are big these days, maked it hard to train 'em."  
  
[Hige]  
  
"Hey!!...HEY!!!!" Hige screamed, but soon gave up. He sat back down in the small cage he was in and held his head.  
  
"I should have listened to Kira..." he lightly pounded his fists on his head. "Damn, I hope she's alright. Atleast she was still breathing when I last saw her..."  
  
He looked up at the sky.  
  
"What am I saying? Of course she'll be alive... it was just a little beating... damn bastards..."  
  
He glanced back down and held his head again.  
  
[Toboe and Kira]  
  
Toboe held Kira on his lap. She was falling asleep in his lap, but globs of tears hung at the corners of her eyes. She hiccuped lightly occationally.  
  
She's so worried about Hige... Toboe thought. ...I wonder if...  
  
"Toboe!!" a familiar voice called his name from behind him. He turned his head to see Tsume with Kiba on his back.  
  
"Tsume!" exclaimed Toboe. Tsume (human) stopped and set Kiba (human) down on the ground. He crawled towards Kira.  
  
"What happened to her?" Tsume asked.  
  
"She was beat up by those wolves in the city, I saw the whole thing." Toboe answered. "Hige was captured by them, and he was taken away by one of those orange trucks!!"  
  
"What??" Kiba growled. "Why didnt you follow them?"  
  
"Well..." Toboe looked down at Kira. "I couldnt leave her here by herself. She seemed so sad when she saw Hige being taken away by the truck..."  
  
Tsume growled in the back of his throat.  
  
"Then what are we standing around for?" he snapped. "We're wasting time."  
  
He picked up Kiba and put him on his shoulders again. Toboe carried the sleeping Kira.  
  
(wolf)  
  
Tsume sniffed the air, searching for Hige's scent. He found it moments later and followed it.  
  
[Couple minutes later]  
  
The four were in the city, searching for Hige. Tsume suddenly stopped. Toboe stopped as well beside him.  
  
(human)  
  
"Why did you stop?" he asked. He looked ahead and saw Cole.  
  
"It's that one woman we saw last night..." Tsume growled.  
  
She was wandering around. She turned a corner into an alley.  
  
"She'll lead us to scar face, let's go." Tsume ran after her. Toboe followed quickly.  
  
"Wait, stop." Kiba kicked Tsume lightly. "Put me down! I can walk on my own now."  
  
Tsume set him down on his feet. He staggered at first, but then ran slowly behid Toboe and Tsume.  
  
The three turn the corner to see Cole with Moss and three other wolves from the pack. Zali was no where in sight.  
  
"Oh," Moss smirked. "Look who it is, the wolves lookin' for Paradise."  
  
He frowned when he saw Kira, but did not say a word.  
  
"He's the one who beat up Kira!" Toboe pointed out. Kiba grabbed his shirt and punched him across the face once.  
  
"What did you do with our friend?" he calmly asked. Suddenly, Zali came walking along and spotted them. He turned and walked towards them.  
  
"What's going on?" he growled.  
  
"Why dont you tell us what's going on?" Tsume growled back. "What's with all these trucks and taking Hige away??"  
  
Zali looked puzzled.  
  
"What are you talking about?" he slowly asked.  
  
"You know damn well what Im talking about!" Tsume snapped. Zali turned to Moss.  
  
"What the hell is going on, Moss??" he asked him suspisiously.  
  
"Just trapping the wolves in the city." Moss grinned. "They'll be working for me now. Train 'em and they'll be out working in no time."  
  
"What?" Zali gasped silently. "Who told you to do that? You arnt allowed to do something like that, call them away now!"  
  
Moss shook his head and laughed. At this point, Kiba had let go and backed away.  
  
"Why should I listen to you?" the grin on his face looked haunting. "You're no diffrent from us. You should be working with the others too, it's where you belong."  
  
Zali stepped past Toboe, Tsume, and Kiba and infront of Zali.  
  
"What are you saying? Im the leader of the pack. Im just trying to do what I thought was best for them, for us to survive." said Zali.  
  
"Not anymore." Moss laughed and punched him across the face, sending him down to the ground. The other three wolves hovered over him and started beating him, the same way they did to Kira.  
  
Kiba stepped forward to fight them.  
  
"No, stay away, keep out of this!" Zali growled at him. Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth and from his nose. Bruises quickly formed on him.  
  
"Stop it, STOP IT!!" Cole screamed and covered her eyes.  
  
"That's enough." Moss ordered them to stop. The they stood up and went to stand by his side. Cole removed her hands from her face.  
  
"Let's go." he turned away from the wolves and walked away. Cole sat down beside Zali and picked up his head onto her lap. He opened his eyes slightly.  
  
"I might kno where your friend is..." he groaned. "Let me help you find him."  
  
Kiba nodded.  
  
[A little bit later, Hige]  
  
Hige shook the metal bars he was surrounded with. He hopelessly punched at them, hoping to bend them so he could get out.  
  
"I hope Im not stuck here forever..." he mumbled.  
  
[Drivers]  
  
Suddenly, a grey wolf jumped out nowhere at the truck front.  
  
"WHOA!" the driver sharply turned, causing the truck to fall over sideways.  
  
[Hige]  
  
"Huh-whoa!!" he held on tightly to the bars as the truck tipped over. "Hey, what's going on?"  
  
He saw Tsume, Kiba, and Zali come running to the cage.  
  
"Phew Im glad to see you guys." Hige sighed. Kiba (wolf, everyone wolf except Hige) chewed and pulled on the bars. He bend them far enough for Hige to squeeze through. He walked out tightly.  
  
"Heh... thanks." he had a huge smile stretched across his face.  
  
"Next time, you're on your own." Tsume joked. Hige swallowed hard.  
  
"Where's Kira?" he asked.  
  
"She's at the graveyard, we're going to meet her and Toboe ther-" Kiba answered, but was inturrupted by a driver.  
  
"Wolves!" he had a gun out and was ready to shoot. Tsume was about to attack, but Zali sped past him and killed the driver.  
  
"Let's go." Kiba ran off towards the graveyard, with Hige, Tsume, and Zali following behind him.  
  
[Toboe and Kira]  
  
Kira (wolf) peacfully slept beside Toboe, who was petting her soft fur. Her paws twitched occationally. He thought it was cute.  
  
"I hope they found Hige and got him back..." he whispered to himself. He looked up and saw four wolves coming towards him. They stopped infront of him.  
  
"We've got Hige back, now let's go." Kiba walked past him, following Zali, and towards the tunnel. Tsume did the same. Hige stopped by Kira and licked her cheek. She stirred slightly before opening her eyes. She (human) sat up and literally tackled Hige (human).  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked her. She nodded, rubbing her head against him. He smiled and stood up, helping her up as well. The three walked over to the tunnel and entered like the others did.  
  
[Later...]  
  
After about 15minutes of walking through the tunnel, they come to a wider path, enough for them to stand up.  
  
"This is the farthest I'll take you." said Zali. "Follow the path that way and you'll come to an exit."  
  
"Arnt you coming with us?" Kiba asked, but he shook his head.  
  
"No," he replied. "Im going to stay. This is where I belong. I do hope you guys find whatever you are looking for."  
  
Kiba nodded.  
  
"Thank you." and with that said, he ran off along the tunnel with Tsume behind him. Kira bowed before catching up to them with Hige. Toboe waved and followed. Zali stood there untill he could no longer see them.  
  
End of Chapter 5.  
  
NOTE: Whoo... Im done finally... Sorry that took long. Now I have to get going with Chapter 6 and 7... ehh... 


	6. The Flower Maiden

NOTE: Okay, I was a little creeped out by the way Kiba acted in the episode when they met Cheza. It was creepy... probably why I didnt finish the 5th chapter so soon. Since Cher is in the episodes now, I guess I'll have to put her in a couple times. Hope you like this chapter.  
  
Chapter 6: The Flower Maiden  
  
After what seemed like hours of being in the tunnel, the wolves found the exit and now are walking in a forest with odd shaped trees.  
  
"This forest is sorta creepy..." Toboe glanced around nervously.  
  
"Hm? How so?" Hige asked.  
  
"Well, there arnt any animals around." he replied. Hige laughed a laughed a little.  
  
"We're wolves, they're afraid of us. You should know that."  
  
"Oh... right." he shoved his hands in his pockets and became silent.  
  
Kira stared at her empty bandaged hands. She had lost the teddy-rat when she had attacked Moss. She folded her arms and scrunched up tightly as if wanting to dissapear in a thin line.  
  
Suddenly, a loud noise came piercing from above. Everyone flinched and covered their ears tightly, all except Kira. She was unaffected by the noise.  
  
"Arrgh, what is that??" Hige yelled over the noise.  
  
"It's an airship!!" Tsume pointed at the large ship floating in the sky.  
  
"I hate that noise..." Toboe grumbled.  
  
The noise soon passed and the forest became quiet again. Hige stared strangly at Kira, who just stood there staring at the airship leave. Her eyes changed, there was no pupil and she wasnt blinking. Everyone noticed this and stared in shock. Hige put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Kira?" Hige shook her lightly. Kira blinked and her pupil was back. She shook her head slightly and glanced at the others.  
  
"Hm?" she stared blankly at them. "What's wrong?"  
  
"What happened?" Toboe asked.  
  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Your eyes changed." said Hige. When she heard that, her eyes widened.  
  
"Uh-uhhmmm... I dont know what you're talking about..." she nervously whispered. Tsume shook his head in annoyance.  
  
"Let's just forget it." he mumbled. He only did this to get her out of it and for them to continue. He knew she was lying.  
  
Kiba nodded. They all continue walking, ignoring what had just happened.  
  
[Lil bit later...]  
  
Several lazer beams (whatever you call 'em) came shooting down at the ground near the wolves. The ground shook slightly.  
  
"Waah!! What was that??" Toboe glanced around nervously.  
  
"I dont know, it's probably from those airships..." Tsume growled.  
  
Kiba stared at the sky at the two battling airships. His eyes widened when he saw a human figure jump off one of the airships. He began running off towards a huge cliff (where Cheza was born, I beleive).  
  
"Huh? Where's he going??" Hige looked puzzled.  
  
Kira ran off behind him without hesitation.  
  
"Kira? Wait!!" Hige darted off after her with Toboe and Tsume behind him.  
  
[Later...]  
  
The wolves were climbing the huge cliff that Kiba and Kira had run off to. They were far ahead of the others.  
  
"Where are they going??" Hige grumbled.  
  
The two ahead of them reached the top and dissapeared from the other's sights. When the three others reached the top, Kiba and Kira were waiting for them.  
  
"Come on." Kiba turned around and began walking fast into the woods. Kira grabbed Hige's hand and dragged him along. Toboe and Tsume shrugged and followed.  
  
"Where are we going, Kiba?" Toboe asked while catching up to him.  
  
"To..." he stopped. The wolves came to the edge of the forest. They stood infront of a field of flowers, with a small pond (?) and waterfall coming down on it. Someone sat on the edge of the pond with their feet in the water (Cheza).  
  
"Cheza..." Kiba whispered before approaching her slowly. Cheza stood up in the water. Kiba walked into the water infront of her.  
  
Cheza kneeled down to pet Kiba (wolf). She ran her fingers through his silky white fur and hugged him close.  
  
"This one has been waiting for you." she whispered.  
  
[Later...]  
  
Kiba held Cheza's hand while walking along the woods. The others followed behind them, chatting away about Cheza.  
  
"I dont trust her." Tsume snarled. Kira hadnt said anything since the airships came by. Toboe and Hige argued with Tsume about Cheza...  
  
They come across tunnels and strange paths in the mountain (whatever). Cheza happily entered a room, one that was empty and everything was trashed. When she saw this, she became sad...  
  
Moments later, the wolves and Cheza had continued their way wandering around untill they came to an opening. People with guns poped out from bushes, trees, and behind rocks and began shooting at the them.  
  
"The hell..." Tsume grabbed Kira and Toboe and ran away from the shooting. Kiba did the same with Cheza. Hige glanced around confused and followed the others.  
  
"Argh... where did they come from??" Tsume growled. He put down Kira and Toboe. Kiba had continued running off with Cheza.  
  
"Hey, wait!!" Toboe ran after them.  
  
After he left, more gunshots were coming at them. Tsume swiftly attacked a man nearby who was shooting with his blade. Hige attacked another one behind him. Kira simply dodged all bullets and ran away. Tsume and Hige followed after killing another.  
  
[Kiba, Cheza, and Toboe]  
  
The tree ran, quickly dodging every shot. Kiba was protecting Cheza, while Toboe searched for a place to escape.  
  
"Over here!" Toboe waved from a narrow path ahead. Kiba and Cheza began running towards him, but was stopped by a man who began shooting at them. Kiba stood infront of Cheza and attacked the man.  
  
((I loved that part...when he was like half wolf, half person.))  
  
As soon as he killed the man, more popped up behind them. But were killed by Tsume and Hige. Kira was hiding behind Hige.  
  
Kiba smiled. He led Cheza to where Toboe was and walked into the narrow path. Hige, Tsume, and Kira ran off towards them. Moments later, several more of the men followed them through the narrow path.  
  
The wolves and Cheza stop at a dead end. A big root from what seemed like a tree blocked their way.  
  
"What do we do now? They're getting closer..." Toboe tugged on Kiba's sleeve.  
  
((I missed this part, sorry, so I dont really know how the walls moved...))  
  
Cheza walked up to the wall and placed her hand on it. The walls moved aside, making a small door for them to go through. Everyone stared in amazment.  
  
"Whoa, that's cool!" Hige grinned.  
  
Kiba held Cheza's hand again and walked through the door. Tsume growled.  
  
"What if she's leading us into a trap??" he snarled.  
  
Hige and Toboe didnt know what to say. Kira stepped forward.  
  
"If she is..." she said quietly. "... it's probably better than getting killed by those people..."  
  
She turned around and entered through the door. The wall suddenly moved again slightly.  
  
"Kira's right." Hige turned away from Tsume and sprinted to catch up to her.  
  
"C'mon Tsume!" Toboe grabbed his arm and dragged him in. The walls closed behind them.  
  
The men stopped at the dead end.  
  
"Where did they go?" one asked.  
  
"I could have sworn they went through here." said another. They shrug and turn back.  
  
End of Chapter 6.  
  
NOTE: Sorry that this one is short. I couldnt really remember what happened since my notes lacked detail... I probably wont finish up chapter 7 untill I see the next episode. And someone said something about Hige in love with some other wolf later in the series... ehh, Im trying to figure out if I should break Kira and Hige apart... but a lot of people dont want that to happen... what do I do?? x.x 


	7. The Song Of Sleep

NOTE: I dont quite understand about the Hanabitos in this episode... so yeah. This episode is one of my favorite.  
  
Chapter 7: Song of Sleep  
  
The wolves and Cheza made their way down from the mountain. Cheza walked playfully, sometimes scaring the wolves when she was at the edge and seemed like she was about to fall.  
  
"Damn, she scares the crap out of me when she does that..." Hige mumbled. Kiba walked behind Cheza with Toboe behind him. Hige stood behind Kira, who seemed to trip and lose balance often. Tsume was glaring at Cheza.  
  
"Hn..." he turned away when she looked back at him. Her smile faded into a line before she turned her head back.  
  
Soon they reached the bottom and were walking through the forest again, making their way to Paradise... The sun dissapeared and the sky turned dark blue, then black with bright stars shining from above. The light of the moon was weak since it wasnt full.  
  
Cheza stopped near a big tree and stared at the stars. She began to sing quietly, then it became loud enough for all of the wolves to hear. Their eyelids became heavy and began to feel sleepy...  
  
"Wha... what is this??" Tsume growled. Toboe sat down against the tree and layed down.  
  
"I... dont know..." Kiba dropped himself beside Toboe. The two were asleep. Kira's eyes fluttered shut while she was still standing. Hige caught her when she tipped over. He gently set her down, yawned, and layed next to her.  
  
Tsume fell to his knees. His vision became blurry as Cheza continued singing. He curled up into a ball and fell asleep...  
  
Cheza sat in the middle of the wolves and petted them while they (wolves) slept.  
  
[Toboe (dream)]  
  
Toboe (wolf) soundlessly slept beside a rocking chair with his grandmother (?) knitting in it in a cabin. The fireplace was lit bright. The place suddenly turned bright. Seconds later, he was laying in a field of lunar flowers.  
  
[Kiba (dream)]  
  
Kiba (wolf) sat in a field of lunar flowers. Cheza sat beside him while handing him a flower.  
  
[Hige (dream)]  
  
Hige (wolf) was with a pack of wolves. The pack accepted him and treated him like a king (?).  
  
((Dunno what was going on there...))  
  
[Kira (dream)]  
  
Kira (wolf) lie on a branch of a tall tree where she could see miles away. Hige was on the other side of the tree on another branch. Kira didnt have any bandages on her arms of legs. They were normal... just like she wished...  
  
[Tsume (dream)]  
  
Tsume (wolf) was running in an open area. He was in a wintery place where snow covered the ground and pine trees flooded the forest. He ran after a deer nearby.  
  
[Next morning...]  
  
Kiba, Hige, and Toboe wandered around the town nearby. Kiba did not plan to stay too long, he only came to watch for the soldiers. Toboe and Hige were sneaking around, stealing items from markets outside. Kira was off somewhere in the forest by herself. Tsume...  
  
Tsume's eyes slowly opened. He bolted upright and glanced around. He saw Cheza sitting near him. He backed away in suprise and sighed.  
  
"What?" he growled at her who was smiling at him.  
  
"You slept the longest. Did you have a nice dream?" she asked. Tsume looked away.  
  
"I...I-I dont remember!" he held his head with one hand as if he had a headache.  
  
"You were running." she smiled, but her attention quickly shifted to Kiba who was returning from the city. "You are back, Kiba."  
  
Kiba smiled at Cheza, but frowned at Tsume who was looking at him. He stood up and grabbed Kiba's by his shirt collar.  
  
"Why did you leave me with her??" he whisper-growled.  
  
"You were sleeping so peacefully. I didnt want to wake you." Kiba grinned. Tsume growled and pushed him away.  
  
"Well if anything happened to her, Im not responsible for it." he looked away.  
  
Kiba walked past Tsume and sat next to Cheza.  
  
[Kira]  
  
((Okay, this might start getting weird now.))  
  
Kira found a small field of flowers nearby. She sat on a large root of a tree that reached out of the ground. She placed her left hand over her right wrist, not quite touching it. She whispered something in another language. Her hand glowed a dim red color and her eyes became completely black.  
  
She then placed both her hands over both her ankles. Again, she whispered something in another language. She did the same to her left wrist...  
  
[Hige and Toboe]  
  
The two bump into eachother in an alley.  
  
"Hey..." Hige stared at somthing furry in his arms. "...What the hell is that?"  
  
"Hm? Oh this?" he lifted it to reveal what looked like a brown furry vest. "It's a gift for Cheza. Just in case she gets cold."  
  
He smiled. Hige chuckled.  
  
"Right, whatever." he lifted a pair of red boots from his arms. "I got her some boots, the forest ground might be hard on her bare feet."  
  
He grinned.  
  
"I also found this." he put the boots back in his arms and opened up his hand to reveal a silver mid-running wolf with small red gems embedded where it's eyes were. "It's for Kira, I thought she'd like it because it sorta looks like her... I mean with the eye and fur color."  
  
Toboe took a closer look at it. He could see the chain for the necklace was securely wrapped around his wrist.  
  
"That's cool!" said Toboe. "Hey, I think we'd better get back soon. Tsume's probably up by now."  
  
Hige nodded and the two began walking back to the forest. Several minutes later, they both noticed someone following them. Toboe scooted over closer to Hige to whisper something to him.  
  
"Hige, is it just me or is there someone following us?" he lightly whispered. Hige nodded. The two stopped after turning a corner to see who it was. The person peeked at them from the corner, the two could see the person's face. It was wrinkley and looked old. The person wore a black hood and dress.  
  
"It's a ghost!!" Toboe squealed. ((Lol))  
  
"RUN!!!!" Hige screamed and ran away with Toboe behind him. The two ran away quickly, hoping to lose the person...  
  
((Loved that part.))  
  
[Later in the forest...]  
  
Hige and Toboe slowed down when they knew they had lost the person. The two panted hard.  
  
"Who was that??" Toboe hissed between his gasps for air.  
  
"I... I dont know, but atleast we've lost them." Hige sighed. After the two calmed down, they continued along the path back to the others.  
  
[Kiba, Cheza, and Tsume]  
  
Kiba looked up.  
  
"They're back." he confirmed.  
  
Toboe and Hige came running towards them.  
  
"Hey guys! We're back." Toboe smiled.  
  
"With food and stuff!" Hige added, he glanced around for Kira. "Where's Kira?"  
  
"She's still in the forest somewhere. I'll go look for her." Kiba stood up, but Hige stopped him.  
  
"No, I'll go look for her." before Kiba could answer, Hige had already ran off, carrying the stuff with him. Kiba watched him suspisiously.  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira's eyes were normal again. She had just finished unwrapping the thick layers of bandages from her left arm. There was a line about an inch down from her wrist with diffrent colored gems embedded into her skin. It looked slightly disturbing.  
  
Kira sighed nervously. She swept her hand lightly across the line.  
  
"Awaken." she whispered. The line opened up. It was an eye, without eyelashes or an eye color. It was just a pupil. The eye looked around at it's surroundings. When it looked at Kira in the eyes, the gems began to glow, blinding her sight and seeing nothing but white. When the light calmed down and dissapated, she slowly opened her eyes.  
  
Hige had found her seconds after this happened. He sat on the tree branch of the tree root that she was sitting on. He curiously looked down at her. Her eyes were closed. ((It said she opened her eyes, but this is like in her mind sorta.))  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira was surrounded by just white. She sat on a floor of whiteness, everything was white...  
  
"She's so cute when she does that." Kira heard a familiar voice. She spun around to see a blurry image, like on a TV. ((Like a memory bubble or something...))  
  
It was Hige, but his lips werent moving. This was his thought...  
  
Kira crawled closer to the screen to get a better look. Her heart pounded hard, she could hear it as it echoed through the place.  
  
She saw another person with her... a girl.  
  
"Blue!" someone called out. It wasnt Hige, but it was someone from the group... she didnt pay attention to it.  
  
The girl had short brown hair and blue eyes. She stayed close to Hige. He smiled to her sweetly, the way Kira loved...  
  
She smiled back... they held hands.  
  
((Yeah, I dont really know if they did that. I looked up Blue's pic at Google... so I know how she looks now I guess. Im not just saying this for Kira and Hige, but Blue and Hige dont look like a good couple.))  
  
[Hige]  
  
Hige quietly crawled down from the branch and approached Kira from behind.  
  
"Kira?" he tapped her shoulder. No responce, she didnt even stir. She put a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. Still no responce. He sighed and sat next to her. His eyes drifted down to her unwrapped arm. He grabbed it and held it lightly in his hand.  
  
"What is this..." he whispered to himself as he felt the jewels on her arm. His finger moved over the closed eye (he doesnt know what it is) and slowly pulled it open...  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" he screamed. Kira's eyes shot open the same time Hige opened and saw the eye.  
  
"Omigodwhatthehellisthatthing??" he spoke quickly that his words connected. He calmed down quickly and looked at Kira. She just stared at him, tears forming at the bottom of her eyes.  
  
"Hey, hey, dont cry." he tried to comfort her a little. "I didnt mean to say that, I just was startled, that's all..."  
  
She wasnt really listening. That wasnt her problem, what she saw before that was why she was upset. Tears streamed uncontrolably down her cheek, her jeans soaking it up quickly. She had seen the future...  
  
End of Chapter 7.  
  
NOTE: Annnddd... it ends here because it's getting a lil long. And yeah, Im trying to shorten each chapter so you guys have something to read more often... new chapters... etc... Yeah. Now Im getting Tsume/Kira comments, I shall count the votes now... 


	8. The Hanabito

NOTE: Alright, a lil heads up now. Im slowing down lately. I still have a couple more episodes to go... Also, I have started on a new fanfic (a Chobits one) which'll probably slow me down even more... sorry. I'll try my best to update asap, I have school and so on... big project/essay due soon so Im working on that (I hate going to school in summer). By the way, here are the ???/Kira pairing thing score: Tsume - 5 votes, Hige - 10 votes. And you know when I put that Toboe likes Kira (chapter 4)? Scratch that. Im so stuck on what to do... I think I'll have a Kira/Tsume now... I read the episode guides and it was a lil confusing... so yeah. I really dont know...  
  
Chapter 8: The Hanabito  
  
Tears continued to drop from Kira's eyes. She wiped them away before standing up. She glanced at Hige, turned around and ran. She didnt look back and kept on running. She didnt want to stay with them anymore, she didnt want to have anything do with them...  
  
[Hige]  
  
Hige would have ran after her, but she had dropped something. It fell out of her pocket when she had ran off. He picked it up.  
  
It was a wooden heart, and looked like it was made by her. He examined it and found "Hige Kira" carved in the front. He looked up to see that Kira had dissapeared into the forest. He slipped the heart into his pocket, picked up her bandages that was laying around and put that in his pocket too. He turned around and began running back to the others.  
  
When he arrived, only Toboe, Kiba, and Cheza were there. He blinked confused.  
  
"Where's Tsume?" he asked.  
  
"Where's Kira?" Kiba asked. They both asked at the same time. "Tsume..."  
  
"They had a fight and he ran off." Toboe answered.  
  
"He'll be back." Kiba nodded. "So where's Kira?"  
  
Hige looked back at where he came from.  
  
"Uhhm..." he glanced back at them. "...She ran away... too."  
  
"What happened?" Kiba asked.  
  
"...Im not really sure but..." he thought for a moment. "Here, Cheza, I got these for you."  
  
He placed the red boots he had on the ground for her to put on. She curiously put them on and looked delighted. She danced around a little while giggling. Hige creeped over to Toboe.  
  
"What happened to your gift?" he nudged him.  
  
"She didnt like it..." Toboe mumbled.  
  
Kiba spun around as he heard foot steps coming towards them. It was an old women (the one that was following Toboe and Hige) with bright hair and black sunglasses. She walked closer to them. Cheza looked scared.  
  
Kiba stood infront of Cheza to protect her, just in case.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked. The old women stopped several feet away from him.  
  
"Are you wolves?" she asked while taking off her sunglasses to reveal red eyes like Cheza's. She looked like an older (very) version of Cheza. Her hair was the same color too.  
  
They all gasped.  
  
[Tsume]  
  
Tsume walked through the forest by himself. He knew he would go back sooner of later. Strange noises surrounded him, creeping him out a little. He shuddered, shoved his hands into his pockets and continued walking.  
  
[Kira]  
  
As Kira ran as fast as she could through the forest, she received small cuts from the bushes and branches on the trees. She ignored them. The heartache she had was far more painful than the cuts.  
  
She tripped over a rock and fell face first. She lifted her head with tears still flowing down her cheek. Dirt covered one side of her cheek. She dug her fingers into the ground before sitting up. She realized that the blue cloth that Toboe had wrapped around her arm (in chapter 1) was torn off and only small bits remaind wrapped around her arm. Her arm was mostly healed now, what remained was a scab. She pulled off the remaining pieces and tossed them aside.  
  
Kira stood up and thought back at what happened. She was curious if she had made a mistake, that she ran away when he didnt know what was going on...  
  
"No." she thought. "...He'll soon forget all about me and go off with... that girl, Blue... Yeah. It doesnt matter anymore, he'll be happy with her... not me..."  
  
She choked on the last words. She stood up and began running through the woods again.  
  
[Kiba, Toboe, Cheza, and Hige]  
  
Gunshots could be heard nearby. The old women turned to the wolves and Cheza.  
  
"We must go, it's not safe here." she began running deeper into the forest. The wolves and Cheza followed her. They didnt have much choice.  
  
The old women stopped at a small wooden door surrounded by flowers. It was under a tree, the roots grew around it.  
  
"Hurry." she opened the door for them. Cheza enters first, followed by the wolves and the old women.  
  
Inside, the women ushered Cheza to a chair in an empty room. Nothing but a small window was in there. The old women sat on the floor infront of her. The wolves stood behind Cheza.  
  
"I have been waiting for you..." the old women began. She began explaining about her and Cheza.  
  
[Tsume]  
  
Tsume stopped to rest for a moment. He stood, staring at the sky. He suddenly heard something come out of the bushes. It tackled him down.  
  
"What the hell..." he lifted his head while rubbing it. The thing that took him down lay ontop of him.  
  
At first, he saw just black hair spread around his chest. He could see a top of someone's head. He sat up and realized it was Kira. She didnt move, and continued to cling to his shirt. He didnt quite know what to do.  
  
"Kira??" he poked her head. She slowly looked up at him, her eyes swollen from crying and dirt still on her cheek. She looked at him with eyes that caught his attention, but yet it was filled with sadness and despair.  
  
"..." he didnt know what to say. He could tell from her look that she had been heartbroken... torn apart... shattered into enfinity pieces...  
  
He wasnt the kind of guy who would comfort someone. His thoughts became confused with what to do and if he should do it. Suddenly, his mind just shut down.  
  
"Who was it?" Tsume asked. His voice, for once, sounded kind. But still had that rough touch to it.  
  
Kira began to cry again, the tears washing away streaks of the dirt on her cheek. She held onto his shirt tightly as she cried and hiccuped. She didnt know if it was Hige or just her for doing it, seeing the future. She couldnt really give him an answer.  
  
Normally he would have pushed her off, but in this case, he wrapped his arms around her and held her loosely.  
  
((Aww... Oh, by the way. takes out gun If any of yeh give me the "he's mine" crap... loads the gun... I'll shoot cha.))  
  
[Kiba, Toboe, Cheza, and Hige]  
  
"You mustn't go with the wolves." the old woman warned Cheza. "...It will only lead to destruction."  
  
Kiba frowned.  
  
"If you stay with me," she said. "I will live longer... and so will you."  
  
((If I get something wrong in this part here... dont blame me, I really dont get this part.))  
  
Kiba placed a hand on Cheza's shoulder.  
  
"Cheza, let's go." he said. Cheza looked up at him and didnt move. She was concerned about the old woman, but at the same time wanted to bring the wolves to Paradise.  
  
Kiba glared at the old woman.  
  
"Cheza..." he whispered. Cheza glanced back at the old woman, then at the wolves. She stood up.  
  
"This one must go with the wolves." she said. "This one wishes to bring the wolves to Paradise."  
  
The old woman nodded and said nothing else. Kiba walked to the door and opened it to check if anyone was around.  
  
"We have to find Kira before we move on." said Hige.  
  
"And Tsume." added Toboe.  
  
Kiba nodded. He peeked out the door and saw Cher, standing and staring at something shattered on the ground.  
  
"That woman..." he mumbled. "Hige, Toboe, you distract her. I'll take Cheza, you guys follow."  
  
Hige and Toboe nodded.  
  
[Cher]  
  
Cher turned around to leave when suddenly something big dropped from the tree she was standing by. It was Hige.  
  
She gasped and backed up but then Toboe jumped down from the tree behind her. She backed away from both of them and stared at them.  
  
"Who..." Cher looked up and spotted Kiba and Cheza nearby. They both looked at her. Her eye's widened as she watched Kiba turn into a white wolf. She dropped her jaw and backed up.  
  
Kiba turned back t his human form, took Cheza's hand and ran off. Hige and Toboe hopped behind them.  
  
Cher stood watching the wolves dissapear with Cheza. She couldnt believe what she had just seen.  
  
[Meanwhile...]  
  
Quent stepped off a bus with Blue. He curiously took a quick look at the town he had just arrived at. Blue looked up at him.  
  
[Tsume and Kira]  
  
At this point, Tsume did pull Kira off of her. She stood infront of him with her hands covering her face. Tsume stood up.  
  
"We have to go back to the others." he said.  
  
Kira removed her hands and brushed away the rest of the dirt on her face. She nodded.  
  
"What are you doing out here?" she asked.  
  
"I got pissed off at Kiba" he growled as he thought back to what happened. Kira nodded again. She sniffed the air, then began following Hige's scent. Tsume followed behind her.  
  
She didnt know if she could face Hige, but she knew she had to sometime. She dug in her pocket to find the gift she had made for her, but her pocket was empty. She sighed and continued to walk along...  
  
((Hmm... should I end this chapter? Yes? No? Maybe no...))  
  
"What's that on your arm?" Tsume asked. Kira looked up.  
  
"This?" she pointed to the closed eye and gems embedded around it. "It's..."  
  
She didnt know how to explain it.  
  
"Well..." she thought for a moment. "It's hard to explain... with my left arm, I can see the future. With he my legs I can see the present, like what's going on at the time at a certain place, and with my right arm I can look into the past."  
  
Tsume stared blankly at Kira. He shook his head and said nothing else. Little did they know that soldiers were following them...  
  
[Later...]  
  
Kiba, Toboe, Cheza, and Hige could hear gunshots.  
  
"It's Kira!" Hige (wolf) ran off towards the gunshots. Toboe (wolf) ran off behind him.  
  
"Let's go." Kiba grabbed Cheza's hand and dashed after them.  
  
[Tsume and Kira]  
  
Kira (wolf) attacked the soldier that shot at her. Tsume had already killed one. She bit off the neck of the soldier and let go of him, letting his lifeless body fall to the ground.  
  
"This is bullshit." Tsume growled as he killed the last soldier.  
  
"KIRA!!" Kira (human) looked to her side and saw Hige almost tackle her down. He hugged her tight.  
  
"What?" she said coldly, not hugging him back. Hige let go and looked at her.  
  
At that moment, Tsume knew who it was. He stared at the two, the quickly looked away.  
  
Toboe came running towards Tsume and stopped infront of him.  
  
"We found them!" he said happily. Seconds later, Kiba walked to them with Cheza.  
  
"Welcome back." he grinned. Tsume didnt say anything and ignored him.  
  
Kira walked around Hige and to Cheza. She took out something from her pocket.  
  
"Here, Cheza." she held out a crown of flowers. "This is for you, I never had a chance to give it to you."  
  
She smiled at her. Cheza happily placed it on her head and smiled.  
  
"This one is thankful to all." she said.  
  
"Let's keep going." Kiba said and began making his way out of the forest. The wolves and Cheza followed.  
  
Kira silently walked along, as if nothing happened. She stared blankly ahead, like Hige wasnt there or he didnt exsist. When he was about to hold her hand, she shoved them into her pockets and didnt even look at him. He looked shocked for a slight moment, then put his hands in his hoodie pocket. Tsume saw this and frowned.  
  
End of Chapter 8.  
  
NOTE: sigh ... so sad. Anyhoo... Im going to try to finish the episodes that I have to keep going on (Misgivings and Moon's Doom) by this week... hopefully... By the way, I take notes on the episodes and I during commarcials I write something weird, like a note, so Im going to start putting it up in the next chapter on. 


	9. Misgivings

NOTE: I just realized I forgot to put the part where Cheza goes back to the hanabito and she gets the red poncho thing... shit. Oh well... you all know the story. Im starting to make it more suspencful now... ::tortures you all::... lol, seems to be atleast. Hope you like ths chapter...  
  
Chapter 9: Misgivings  
  
[The wolves and Cheza]  
  
The wolves and Cheza wander through the city, trying to escape the soldiers that searched for them...  
  
A black dog growled at them as they passed by. They ignored it, but Cheza stopped. The dog stopped growling. Cheza crouched down to eye level with the dog.  
  
"You are a wolf too... part wolf." she smiled. The dog looked at Cheza suprised. The wolves stopped for her. Kiba ran to her.  
  
"Cheza, let's go." he put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up. Kira stared at the dog. She reconized it alright... it was "Blue", the hunter's dog...  
  
((Obviously she doesnt know Quent is a retired sheriff... or, I think he's retired... ne?))  
  
Without warning, Kira pushed her way infront and ran off, leaving the wolves. She accidently knocked Toboe down, but she kept on running...  
  
"Kira!!" Hige darted after her. Tsume would have ran after her too, but felt it wasnt right, and did it anyways. He went a diffrent rout than Hige, hoping to catch up to her first. Toboe watched them go...  
  
"It's them!" a soldier came out of the bar. Kiba grabbed Cheza and Toboe and jumped on top of the building next to the bar. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop untill he was sure that they were away from the soldiers.  
  
"That was close..." Toboe sighed.  
  
"Too close." Kiba murmured.  
  
[Tsume]  
  
Tsume was on the roofs of the buildings as well. He could see Kiba behind him over his shoulder. He looked over the edge of the building (while still running) and looked for Kira. He found her.  
  
He stopped and jumped over the edge...  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira ran into Tsume, who came out of nowhere (she thought). She spun around to run the opposite direction but Hige blocked her way. She had nowhere to run.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you??" Tsume demanded. Kira felt like killing herself at the moment. She was about to jump up ontop of the building, but Kiba dropped in on her with Toboe and Cheza.  
  
Kiba said nothing at first, but spoke after dropping Toboe and setting down Cheza.  
  
"Let's find a place to hide for now." he turned around, grabbed Cheza and began running.  
  
"Let's go!!" he yelled over his shoulder. He acted as if nothing happened...  
  
"She's hurt right now..." he thought. "...It's best if she handles her own problem..."  
  
Tsume, Toboe, and Hige looked at eachother and shrugged. Kira ran past them behind Kiba, then the wolves followed...  
  
[Later...]  
  
Cheza and the wolves had found an abandoned school bus in a garbage dump on the edge of the town. All the windows and the door were broken, but it was good enough for them to hide in.  
  
"Toboe, you stay here with Cheza." Kiba was telling the others their duties for now. "Hige and Tsume, you two look around for were the soldiers are around so we dont run into them... I'll go look for a way out of the city..."  
  
He turned to Kira.  
  
"Kira, you can stay or go with Hige and Tsume." he gave her a choice...  
  
"I'll stay." she said quietly. Kiba nodded.  
  
"Meet back right before sundown." with that said he walked out of the bus and ran off to find a way out. Hige and Tsume went seperate ways. Tsume took the north and east side, Hige took the south and west.  
  
Back in the bus, Cheza sat in the back of the bus with Toboe. She sat on the floor while soaking up the sunlight that came in through the broken window. She took off her hood while doing so.  
  
Toboe sat in a seat near her. He was laying down and had his eyes closed.  
  
Kira sat in the middle of the bus. She sat tightly in the corner of a seat silently. She planned to go wander around the city later and maybe snatch some food on the street. She was hungry...  
  
((NOTE: Hahaha...ha... whoo, saria1992's review cracked me up... ahh... yeah. Anyways, new rule. YOU MUST HAVE ADD A REASON WHY IT SHOULD BE KIRA/HIGE OR KIRA/TSUME!!!!!! Got it? Good. Have a nice day.))  
  
Toboe sat up and looked out the window. He had heard several footsteps. He saw three kids running with arms full of food. Soldiers shot guns at them.  
  
Toboe narrowed his eyes and sunk back into his rest.  
  
Kira stood up and walked out. She stopped several feet away from the bus before hopping away into the city.  
  
[Quent and Blue]  
  
Quent sat on a wooden box, holding a picture of his family in a wallet. He was rambling on about his past. Blue quietly listened while tilting her head.  
  
He suddenly fell asleep, dropping the wallet in process. He softly snored.  
  
Blue turned her head to a gunshot nearby. She walked over to where it came from. Two soldiers held their guns aimed to a young boy. Blue ran infront of him and growled at the soldiers. One of the soldiers, an injured one, became afraid.  
  
"It's another one of them!" his eyes grew wide and he started to back away. Blue jumped at the soldier.  
  
[Quent]  
  
Quent heard gunshots and growls. He bolted awake and noticed Blue was missing. He grabbed his wallet and gun, stood up and ran towards the growls.  
  
When he had arrived, blood was everywhere. Blue was hovering over the boy, blood coming out of his forehead. He suddenly had a flashback...  
  
He shot at Blue, but purposely missed.  
  
"Get away from him." he grumbled.  
  
((NOTE: Andddd... this is the commercial stop here... anyways. Here's what I wrote (when I was taking notes on the episode) during the commarcial: This chapter is going to be long, Im going to have to split it to two... mmm... coffee commarcial... ::drools:: ))  
  
[Later...]  
  
Blue was tied to a pole while Quent bandaged the boy's head. The two soldiers who attacked the boy came across her. He growled, startling both of them.  
  
"Oh god, it's that damn dog..." one of them said. He noticed she was tied to a pole. Blue gets up and tried to break free. The soldiers laughed. The one who was injured stepped forward.  
  
"You stupid thing cant get me now." he smirked. "...For what you did, I should pay back..."  
  
He lifted the end of his gun and slammed it down onto Blue's head. She growled and whimpered as the hits came. He did it again, and again, and again...  
  
"Heh, that should teach you not to mess with us." he sneered. Blue glared at the soldier. He quickly frowned. She jumped up to attack...  
  
((Erm... do I have to go over this? I mean, no changes in these parts with Quent and Blue...))  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira wandered through the city. She couldnt find any food besides garbage on the streets. She wasnt at the point where she would eat old rotten food... yet. She continued to search for food, careful about bumping into anyone and thinking about Hige...  
  
[Hige]  
  
They were surrounded. No dout about it. The soldiers were EVERYWHERE.  
  
"They're planning to trap us in here..." Hige murmured and shook his head. He was worried about Kira. The look on her face that he had seen, it scared him dead...  
  
He thought back to the time they met. The time she pushed him down the hole at the ruins. The time they both cuddled and slept together at the city. The time he had bandaged up her wound when she was shot. The time she...  
  
"...refused my hand..." his heart hurt. He clutched it tightly while that moment attacked him. It hurt him badly that she had given him a cold shoulder, that she turned away and acted as if he didnt exsist. A tear escaped from his left eye, but he wiped it off quickly.  
  
"If I just talk to her..." he pulled up his sleeve and there on his wrist dangled the silver wolf necklace he was going to give her... no, he will give it to her.  
  
He stood up and pulled his sleeve back over his arm. He looked over the edge of the building he was on top of and looked down. He jumped and fell back in shock as he saw Kira casually walking along the alley.  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira looked up. She heard something. It sounded like something fell over. She shrugged and continued to walk along.  
  
[Hige]  
  
Hige sat up and ran his fingers through his messy hair and sighed nervously. He stood up and got ready to jump down to her...  
  
[Kira]  
  
Kira felt something wrap around her from behind. It was warm... a familiar warmth that she loved...  
  
"NO!" she struggled to get out of Hige's bear hug, except he wouldnt let go. He didnt want her to run away. That would have only caused him more pain.  
  
"Let me go!!" she bit his arm, but this calmed him down more. He was still as blood trickled down his arm. She kept a hold onto his arm with her teeth. He winced from the pain, but remained calm.  
  
Tears streamed down Kira's cheeks. She wanted to be far from Hige, so he could live his life happy with... Blue. Her teeth loosened as blood fused with tears. She coughed and hiccupped lightly as his hug loosened, but he still kept his arms around her. He rested his head on her shoulder as she softly cried...  
  
"Why do you cry?" Hige whispered in her ear. "What makes these tears shed, Kira?..."  
  
Kira was silent. She stopped coughing and hiccuping, but tears still trickled down her cheeks. She blankly stared ahead, her heart pounding hard against her chest...  
  
End of Chapter 9.  
  
NOTE: ::Sigh::... once again, so sad. This gives me an idea for something Im doing in art... hmm... ah, well. I think it might have almost teared me up, but it might have been my yawns, I dunno. I should be able to finish the rest of this episode and the next episode by this week or weekend... my five day off of school... YEAY!! By the way, it's Tsume: 7, Hige: 11. 


	10. Way Out

NOTE: Im going to probably lose a lot of readers for this... Im going with Kira/Hige because... Hige and Blue dun' make a good couple. Plus, Blue and Kiba make a good couple soooo... yeah. Sorrys for those who wanted Tsume/Kira... Hige won the votes anyways...  
  
Chapter 10: Way Out  
  
[Quent]  
  
((Returned to Blue, found a dead soldier, blah blah blah...))  
  
[Hige and Kira]  
  
Kira wanted to pull away while Hige was off guard, but she didnt really want to leave him. She gently moved his arms off of her and layed on the ground. She curled up into a flat ball and closed her eyes as if going to sleep.  
  
"...You." she whispered. "I know in the future, you'll love someone else... you'll end up leaving me soon, it might as well be now so we dont get any closer-"  
  
"What makes you think that?" Hige fell to his knees infront of her and sat down. "You cant see the future, you wouldnt know... what if-"  
  
"I saw it." she inturrupted him. "...When you found me in that forest. You saw the eye, and gems in my arm... Im able to see the future."  
  
She covered her face with her hands, though she wasnt crying. Hige was silent. He didnt know whether to believe her or not... he knew she wouldnt lie to him...  
  
((Or would she? Dum dum dum...))  
  
"Are you sure that it'll actually happen??" he asked. "...I mean, it could... be wrong..."  
  
Kira curled up her fingers into a fist and shook her head no. He looked down at her, then his bleeding arm, then at something shining from his wrist. It was the silver wolf necklace. He pulled it out slightly so his other hand could hold it tightly.  
  
"Look," he stared at the red eye of the wolf. "...I love you now, and it hurts to see you just walk away from me..."  
  
He looked away from the necklace and at Kira who glanced back at him.  
  
"So how about this..." he tried his best to smile for her. "If I ever leave you, you can kill me..."  
  
"Maybe Kiba would." he thought.  
  
"...Or if YOU dont want to, you can have one of the others kill me... like Kiba or Tsume." he was able to smile now, and he smiled wide, revealing some of his perfect lined teeth.  
  
Kira smiled back and sat up. She hugged him, but she did not give him a reply to his suggestion. He didnt notice. She couldnt answer. She would never kill him, or ask anyone to kill him for her. The hug felt like forever to the two, like they havent seen eachother in years.  
  
Kira let go and frowned at Hige's arm she had bitten. She gently took it in one hand and took out a roll of bandages in the other. He rolled up his sleeve and remembered about the necklace as it fell out of hiding. He unwrapped it from his wrist and held it out for her.  
  
"This is for you," Hige smiled. "I was going to give it to you earlier, but I never had the chance to."  
  
Kira stared at it for a moment before reaching for it, he placed it in her hand. She observd every detail of the silver wolf, feeling the texture of the solid fur and ruby-like eye. She held it tightly in her hand and smiled back at Hige.  
  
"Thank you." she pressed it against where her heart was. He nodded and his smile slowly dissapeared. Her smile also faded away, curious why he suddenly stopped smiling. She tilted her head slightly.  
  
The two were silent for a long time and all they did was stare at eachother. Hige was the first to move. He slowly (very very slowly...) inched his face towards Kira's. She didnt move at all. He slowly continued to get his face closer to her's. They both quickly closed their eyes as their lips met...  
  
[Tsume]  
  
"Damnit, they're all over this side too." Tsume grumbled. He was now on where Hige should have been, the north side. He decided to go find him if he was done looking around. He was bored anyways. He hopped from building to building to find him.  
  
Tsume suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.  
  
"He's near." he murmured, but froze when he could smell someone else. "Kira."  
  
He hopped away to where he smelled the two. He stopped at the edge of a building. He looked over the edge and spotted the two...  
  
[Hige and Kira]  
  
The kiss still continued. Hige ran his fingers through her hair, holding the back of her head. Kira lifted her hands to his face, lightly holding his warm cheeks and the necklace dangling from her fingers. He put his other arm around her and pulled her closer to him.  
  
[Tsume]  
  
Tsume frowned in slight disgust. He was about to jump off to another building but he ended up slipping, the edge crumbling beneath him. Before he had time to react, he was falling down towards the two...  
  
[Hige and Kira]  
  
Their kiss was broken by debris falling around them. They let go of eachother and glanced around.  
  
The two saw a grey wolf suddenly fall onto the ground. It bolted upright and ran off without looking at them. Hige and Kira watched the wolf run off.  
  
"Was that Tsume?" Hige blinked. Kira didnt say anything. Her expression was the same as Hige's. She shrugged.  
  
She glanced back at Hige and lightly touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She placed the necklace over her head and pulled it down to her neck. She looked at it for a moment before picking up the roll of bandages. Hige held out his arm as she wrapped it around his arm.  
  
[Kiba]  
  
Kiba ran back to the old bus. When he entered, he didnt see anyone around in it. He slowly stepped closer to the back of the bus.  
  
"Boo!" Toboe suddenly poped out from behind a seat with Cheza. Kiba stared at his blankly, wondering what he was doing. Toboe's grin turned into a frown of dissapointment. He shook it off.  
  
"So what now?" he asked.  
  
"I'll wait till the others arrive." Kiba replied as he sat down in one of he seats. Toboe nodded and sat in the seat behind him. Cheza remainded at her spot.  
  
A few silent moments later, Kiba heard someone running towards the bus. He peeked out the window and saw it was Tsume. He stood up and walked to the entrance.  
  
"So how is it?" he asked while Tsume stopped infront of him.  
  
"The place is covered. It's like we're surrounded." he replied while quickly catching his breath. "And Hige seemed to be enjoying himself making out with that Kira."  
  
He smirked. Kiba blinked at him.  
  
"What?" he said.  
  
"Nothin', nevermind." Tsume pushed past him and sat in a seat close the the front.  
  
Kiba shook his head and was about to return to his seat when he saw Hige and Kira returning to the bus.  
  
"We're doomed." Hige sighed.  
  
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.  
  
"We're surrounded. They've got like every street and corner in town!"  
  
Kiba frowned. His plan dropped to F.  
  
"Well in that case..." he said. "We're going to have to go through the Forest of Death."  
  
"The Forest of wha??" Hige blinked.  
  
"The Forest of Death." he grinned.  
  
"Isnt that a forest where if someone goes in, no one comes out?" Toboe said while shaking. Kiba shrugged.  
  
"It's a rumor."  
  
[Later that night...]  
  
A couple soldiers were spying on them earlier, listening to their plans. They had reported it back to their captain and planned to attack the bus while they were asleep...  
  
"Go, go, go!" he ordered as several soldiers ran into the bus. They shot at the lumps under blankets, but soon they discovered that they were just shooting at piles of garbage.  
  
((Ahhh... so sleepy... cant keep eyes open... eyes... sticking together... cant... pull apart... z...zzz....zzzzzzz...))  
  
"What?? They're gone!" one of the soldiers yelled.  
  
[Back at their base (I think)]  
  
"What? They're not there? Impossible! We never saw them come out..." the soldier held a radio and yelled at the soldiers.  
  
Hige suddenly popped out of nowhere.  
  
"Looking for me?" he grinned and tapped his shoulder. The soldier looked shocked.  
  
"What?? They're here!!" he pulled out his gun but Hige knocked him out cold before he could fire. Then suddenly, soldiers began coming out of their tents and shooting at him. He began attacking them. Tsume, Toboe, and Kira jointed seconds later.  
  
Kiba took Cheza and ran to a tall pile of rocks and jumped over it, escaping the base.  
  
The others continued to fight off the soldiers and when it seemed clear for a second, they bolted towards the wall of rocks and jumped over it, meeting Kiba and Cheza.  
  
"Let's go." Kiba nodded.  
  
[Quent]  
  
Quent searched for Blue in the town. He suddenly saw Toboe as he came to the corner of a street. His eyes widened.  
  
He grabbed his gun and ran after him, but when he turned the corner, he saw an injured Blue. She limped towards him.  
  
He crouched down to her as she came to him and fell down infront of him.  
  
"Those damn wolves!!" Quent growled and stood up.  
  
((Ack... Im so sleepy I cant type... my spelling is going weird... I thought I could finish but... must... sleep...))  
  
He lifted his gun and was about to run off to kill the wolves when something tugged his coat. It was Blue. He looked back at her.  
  
"Dont worry, I'll be back." with that said, he tugged away and ran off.  
  
[The wolves and Cheza]  
  
The wolves were closer to the forest now, they continued their way there. Suddenly, someone was firing at them. It was Quent. The wolves dodged the shots quickly.  
  
Cheza suddenly tripped over a small rock. She fell down hard and paniced slightly as she saw Quent's gun aimed at her. Kiba ran infront of her to protect her. He was shot in the shoulder (or where his collar bone is around). He winced from the pain, but didnt move from his spot.  
  
Quent lowered his gun slightly to get a look at him. He was in slight shock.  
  
"He protected her..." he murmured. He lifted his gun and aimed for his head. He didnt fire immidiatly. His mind was wondering whether to shoot him or let them escape... no, he wouldnt let them escape.  
  
Click. Click click click.  
  
"Damnit!" he was out of bullets. He dug into his pocket, pulled out another load, stuck it in and looked back at the wolves, but they were gone.  
  
"Nooooooooo!!!" he screamed and fired in random places in fury.  
  
[Later...]  
  
Quent returned to where Blue was, but she was gone. All that was left was a large puddle of blood.  
  
End of Chapter 10.  
  
NOTE: Aww... so sweet!! They made up XD!!... so cute... now that I got the Hige/Kira or Tsume/Kira thing off my back... I feel more relaxed... ::silently sips on green tea:: 


	11. The Memories of the Claw

NOTE: This episode creeped me out (the owl...)... I had to gather all my stuffed animals and sit wit them... :p I loved the last part though. For those who wanted a Tsume/Kira, and are still reading this, here's a chapter for you.  
  
Chapter 11: The Memories of The Claw  
  
[Forest of Death]  
  
Someone's stomach growled. The wolves and Cheza looked behind them at Hige.  
  
"What?" he glanced around innocently. "Okay, okay, Im hungry... you dont have to always look at me..."  
  
"You're always hungry." Tsume smirked.  
  
"No Im not!" Hige growled.  
  
Toboe was suddenly suprised by a skull he tripped over. A giant cockroach the size of their heads suddenly poped out from a tree and jumped at him.  
  
"Aaaahh!!!" he screamed, but Tsume had caught it before it got to him. It squirmed in his hand.  
  
"What the hell is this?" he sniffed it. "Doesnt look like any bug Ive ever seen before..."  
  
"It's HUGE!" Hige's eye's widened. Kira giggled.  
  
"Here," Tsume put the bug close to Hige's face.  
  
"If you're hungry, eat this." he grinned.  
  
"Uhhh..." Hige backed away from the bug. "How about..."  
  
He grabbed the bug out of his hand and walked over to Cheza. He held it out to her.  
  
"Why dont you eat it, Cheza?" he grinned, but Kiba quickly slapped it out of his hand, killing it in the process.  
  
"Cheza does not eat bugs." he snarled. Green stuff oozed out from the bug. Hige frowned.  
  
"Then what does she eat?" he asked. It was silent for a few moments.  
  
"Ya'know, Ive never really seen Cheza eat." said Toboe.  
  
"Yeah. Do you even eat?" Hige asked. Cheza shook her head.  
  
"This one only drinks and basks in moon and sunlight." she said.  
  
((Sunlight too right?))  
  
"Of course, she's a flower!" Toboe smiled.  
  
After that, it was silent for a while. Kiba turned and continued to walk along the in the forest. Everyone else followed.  
  
Tsume was thinking, of his past. Far past when he was probably Toboe's age, still a pup. He was playful as ever, like any other pup, but now he was diffrent...  
  
He was curious why he had changed so much, from a sweet and caring guy to a cold attitude bastard. He shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned.  
  
"Why..." he thought and glanced over to Kira, who was looking at Hige happily. "Was it her?..."  
  
It slightly saddened him to see her like that. The way she looked at Hige... it was the same look. The same look she had always given him before, when they were once together.  
  
Tsume sighed as he fought to keep those memories from attacking him. It had always haunted him since he saw Kira again. Always. In his dreams when he was asleep. When it was all silent between the group. When he was fighting and attacking the enemy. Always. They were there, no matter how hard he tried to keep them stored away...  
  
"Maybe that's why I changed so much..." he thought. "What happened on that day... maybe I became such a bastard because... I was trying to put those memories aside... I became frusterates because I couldnt..."  
  
He swallowed hard. He could feel his face beginning to warm up as he fought back several tears. He glanced over to Kira again. She was staring at him curiously, but he didnt notice it.  
  
He wondered what would have happened if he hadnt "accidently" caused her to lose her memory. If he hadnt punched her in the face and caused her to hit her head on the boulder...  
  
He could have told her now, this moment while they stared at eachother. He knew doing this would make her memories come back. She would remember him, Kiba, and... herself.  
  
Kira's lips parted slightly, making a thin crack in her mouth. Her eyes. It was like she had just suddenly realized about them and about Kiba. About the past of all three of them... Oh, he felt like walking over to her and placing a kiss on those cute lips... But Hige had stolen her away from him. That ass hole...  
  
Tsume suddenly realized he was staring at Kira for a long time. Kira was blushing slightly. He remembered the last thing he thought...  
  
"NO!" he growled and held his head. It echoed through the forest and inside his head.  
  
His head throbbed in pain, a headache. He felt like tearing himself apart with his bare hands. He wanted to kill himself... right now. Right then. No. Hige wasnt an ass hole. He hadnt stolen her from him, no...  
  
"...no..." he slammed himself against a tree. Splinters flew everywhere. He dragged himself down and sat down on the hard ground. A tear escaped his left eye and almost trickled down his cheek, but he had wiped it away quickly before anyone saw.  
  
By now, everyone had stopped to stare at Tsume. No one had a clue of what was wrong except Kiba. He was afraid this would happen soon, it was just a matter of time. He walked over to Tsume and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Just dont look at her." he whispered. No one heard but the two.  
  
"I cant..." he mumbled, still holding his head and his eyes shut tight.  
  
"Let's take a break." Kiba suggested to the others.  
  
They were silent for a while, confused of what was going on, but agreed to it.  
  
Tsume remained in place as well as Kiba. The others sorta crept away from them, giving them privacy. Kira had a hard time doing so. She didnt want to leave him like that, whatever was on his mind. She just couldnt. It was like she liked him, but she didnt. No, she loved Hige... right?...  
  
Kira turned away from him, a sad face swept across her face as she turned. Tsume saw this. His eyes where wide as if they would just pop out of their sockets. It wasnt because of what he just saw. It was because of the pain in his head. The headache. It hurt so bad...  
  
"Calm down." Kiba sat beside him. He sat cross-legged and his arms on his knees.  
  
"I just..." he began to calm down slightly. His eyes were no longer trying to escape their sockets, but he continued to hold his head.  
  
"I want my past back..." he murmured. "I want to be with her again. I want to love her and I want her to love me back. I..."  
  
Kiba chuckled.  
  
"What's so funny?" Tsume growled. He was beginning to regain his self again.  
  
"You." he grinned. "You want my sister back. But now?... Heh. Her heart belongs to Hige."  
  
Tsume frowned.  
  
"But..." he looked down. "What would happen if I told her now?"  
  
Kiba shrugged.  
  
"Maybe she'll love you again, but after what you did..." he trailed off.  
  
"She killed my best friend, that's why." he growled.  
  
((Taketo = tah'keh'toh.... or something like that.))  
  
Yes... ol' Taketo. He was his closest friend ever. Friend. Kira was probably closer, but not anymore. She killed him and it had built anger inside of him. That's why he had punched her... It was inside of him, the Tsume that smirked at the weak, always kept his cool, and only saw flames. The other him was kind, caring and smiled happily... he couldnt smile "happily" after the day he lost his love. He could still smile, happy that an enemy was dead or something, but that was more of a smirk...  
  
Kiba sighed and stood up.  
  
"I dont care if you tell her." he said. "I just thought if I told her I was her brother, she'd remember her past, of not only me but you... but if you want to tell her, now's your chance. Im planning to sit here and rest for a bit."  
  
With that said, he spun around and walked over to Cheza to sit by her and Toboe. Tsume glanced past him at Kira, who was cuddling cutely with Hige... just like she used to do with him...  
  
He sat up but only ended up falling on his hands and knees. He lifted his head to look at Kira, but she was gone. Hige sat lonely on the forest ground.  
  
Tsume turned his head and looked around for Kira. She stood beside him and stared down at him. She sat down beside him.  
  
"What happened?" she whispered softly.  
  
Tsume sat back down and leaned against the tree. He tried not to look at her for too long, or he probably would have actually kissed her. He thought about what Kiba had said. He glanced at Hige. Then at Kiba. Then at Kira. Then back to the ground. He sighed.  
  
"Just something that happened in my past..." he murmured.  
  
"Like what?..." she frowned. "...if it's okay for me to ask..."  
  
"Always like that." Tsume thought. "...Her heart's still there. Her memories left..."  
  
He didnt say anything at first. He was still wondering if he should tell her or not... what harm would it do? What would happen?... Would she hate him?...  
  
((I just realized Ive been mixing up "him" with "her" or "he" and "her" (or the other way arounds)... so yeah... I dont check it for mispelling or anything much.))  
  
Tsume lifted his hand to Kira's face and moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. He held her chin lightly and studied her face.  
  
It was definatly her. He just thought he should have checked, to make sure he wasnt dreaming or anything. He was being stupid. It was probably because he was lost in his thoughts and Kira. He loved her so much before, and that love he had for her was coming back quickly...  
  
Kira didnt stir or anything, she simply let him hold her chin. She just couldnt look away from those sad eyes... they looked familiar. But she had never met him before, right? The first time she saw him was when she had woken up... when they had rescued her from the blizzard...  
  
Who'd think he'd come across his love again under a pile of snow? Right when he left the city... What would have happened if Toboe and Hige hadnt found her? ((We all know the answer to that question.)) What if he... no... just... one... small... kiss...  
  
"Let's keep going now." Kiba yelled out to everyone.  
  
Tsume and Kira's lips only touched slightly before they had turned their heads to look at Kiba. Kiba's eyes narrowed as he looked away form the two. Hige didnt see them.  
  
Kira stood up while holding her mouth with both hands. She looked as if she was about to cry, but it passed and she became normal. Without a word, she turned around and ran over to Hige. Tsume watched her.  
  
He looked down before getting up. Depression... that was the only thing that grew so rapidly since he had lost her. He frowned and walked back to the pack.  
  
((I know that Cheza gets sick soon, but Im going to extend that to the next day.))  
  
[Later...]  
  
"I swear Ive seen this tree like a million times now." Hige grumbled.  
  
They had been lost for a while now, and felt like they were going in circles. Everyone was tired and needed rest...  
  
Kiba sighed.  
  
"We should just spend the night here for now, it's getting late anyways." he said. "We'll leave first thing in the mornin-"  
  
"Are you crazy??" Hige inturupted. "We'll probably be dead my morning! You know what they say about this forest..."  
  
"It's only a rumor." Kiba frowned. "I dont believe it. We're staying the night here and that's final. Everyone needs a rest anyways."  
  
Hige frowned as well and sighed. He nodded before holding his empty stomach.  
  
They couldnt really build a fire because the trees were pretty much dead. It was a cold night, and they would have to sleep in it.  
  
Kira was shivering uncontrolably. She only had a tanktop on, and it ended abover her belly. Her hips were bare. Hige was fine with a sweatshirt on and so was Tsume, except he had long sleeves. Kiba only wore a white t- shirt on since he had given his jacket to Cheza. Toboe unrolled his sleeves so he was pretty much okay...  
  
Hige took off his sweatshirt and handed it to Kira. He had a black long sleeve shirt underneath it. She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head no.  
  
"You'll be cold." she whispered. A white fog came out of her mouth as she spoke. She coughed a little.  
  
"I'll be fine, you're the only one that's so cold. You're going to get a cold." he placed it over her head.  
  
She closed her eyes and slipped on his sweatshirt. It was warm... so warm she had stopped shivering. Hige huggled her as she began to fall asleep...  
  
Soon she fell asleep in Hige's arms. He fell asleep as well, a little after she did. Kiba fell asleep laying down next to a tree root with Cheza and Toboe next to him. Tsume tried his best to keep awake, but wasnt succeeding. His head bobbed up and down as he snapped awake, then drowzed off...  
  
He didnt want to fall asleep. He wasnt tired... no... he wasnt... he's just... exausted, that's all. When he snapped awake again, he stood up and shook his head. He walked around the tree he was leaning against to keep awake. He was falling asleep while walking. His heavy eyelids were trying to cover his eyes... no, he cant sleep. Not now... no...  
  
"Does it bother you so much that you keep yourself awake?" a voice asked. His eyes slowly opened to see Kira standing infront of him. He was slouched over slightly.  
  
He rubbed his eyes and took a slep closer to her, but he only ended up falling to his knees.  
  
"No... I..." he murmured.  
  
Kira sat down too and faced him. She tried hard to find him in her mind. Where was he from?? She was sure she had met him before... but when? And why cant she remember??  
  
"Do I know you?" she whispered. "... I mean... you're so familiar..."  
  
Tsume woke up a little now. His attention was on Kira. He thought back to his past again... just for the hell of it...  
  
Tsume was... what? Thirteen then? And how old was she again?... Ten? Eleven?... That was about 6 years ago. They knew eachother since probably when he was 7 and she was 5... they played with eachother everyday... never left eachother's sides...  
  
((Okay, Im not really sure about their ages, but Im seeing Toboe as like, 13-14, Kiba and Hige around 15-17, and Tsume about 18-20, somewhere there. And Kira around 15-17 too... Not sure... but thats what age I see them as. If you know the exact ages... then, well, dont tell me.))  
  
They had known eachother for about 6 years and they havent seen eachother for 6 years... Where had she been all this time? Where had HE been all this time? He shouldnt have left her... But he couldnt face her after hurting her. That was the first time he had... He had been depressed for a long time after that... It hurt him so badly...  
  
[Flashback]  
  
Tsume was seven years old... yes, he was lonely then. No one seemed to want to play with him... he didnt know why. It made him feel sad, and always wanted to just dissapear forever. He wasnt thinking of suicide then, he was too young... but he had after he had hurt Kira...  
  
But just on another ordinary lonely day, he saw a new wolf in the forest. She was definatly a year or two younger than him. She was in a small opening in the middle of the forest where many beautiful flowers bloomed... She blended in so well...  
  
When he saw those big red eyes and her jet black hair that fell down to her elbows, he couldnt look away. She stared back at him, and they stared at eachother for what seemed like hours...  
  
The first thing she had ever said to him...  
  
"What's your name?" the sweet smile he had loved stretched across her face. He was stunned...  
  
"Tsume..." he had whispered, but she had somehow heard him. She tilted her head.  
  
"That's a cute name, my name's Kira." she said. She was covered in petals and flowers. It stood out well since she wore a black dress that reched down a little below her knees. She stood up and walked over to him, the end of her hair was wavy and flowed smoothly as she approached him. She held out her hand, and in the other was a bouche of flowers.  
  
"Want to be my friend?" she asked. He suddenly felt something warm up in his heart... it felt good, and only felt it when he was around her. He wanted to be with her forever...  
  
He slowly took her hand with a small smile. He was being shy that time...  
  
[End of flashback]  
  
That was the first time they had met... when they had first seen eachother and spoken to eachother for he first time. It was so wonderful that day for Tsume, and that day felt like it lasted for years... Oh, what he would give to be with her again, to feel the same feeling he had that day... to have her love him again...  
  
"I..." he murmured.  
  
Kira tilted her head, waiting for an answer. She was beginning to feel afraid slightly... she didnt know what was going on... and she didnt want to lose Hige...  
  
Tsume noticed a silver wolf necklace around her neck. Jewlery...! He had given her something before...  
  
[Flashback]  
  
Tsume was wandering around town for food, to bring back to Kira so they could eat together near a pond. He was... nine, she was seven. He was happy most of those days... whenever he was with her. But he had come across a rose braclet tha day. It had small gem roses on it with emerald leaves. They were fully bloomed, and connected by a chain. He knew she would love it, and snatched it before returning to her.  
  
"Im back, Kira!!" Tsume dashed back to his love. He had arms full of food, and the rose braclet was in his pocket. He set the food down near a tree stump.  
  
Kira was playing in the water of the pond. She walked out with two fat fish squirming in her hands. She set them down away from the edge of the pond so they wouldnt hop back.  
  
"I caught some fish that we can eat too." she smiled. "...together."  
  
He smiled back.  
  
"They look good." he said while walking up to her. He held her right hand and dug into his pocket for the braclet. He pulled it out and clipped it onto her wrist. At that time, she had bandages on her arms and legs too. She had explained to him before that she was born with gems and extra "eyes", she didnt know why, but she didnt tell him what they did.  
  
Kira was suprised. She examined the braclet for a moment, before looking back up to him.  
  
"It's beautiful... thank you so much!!" she gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back happily...  
  
[End of flashback]  
  
((Oh my god I cant stop typing... this is like... such a cute chapter!!... Must... take... break...nooo...))  
  
Tsume still hadnt answered her. They sat silently while staring at eachother. He didnt know what to say...  
  
[Flashback]  
  
Their first kiss... it wasnt far away from when Tsume had hurt Kira. He was 12 and she was ten. It was on a night of a full moon...  
  
The two sat on a tree branch near the lake. It stuck out above the water slightly. They sat side to side, holding hands, and lightly leaning on eachother.  
  
They watched the sun disapear, and it was beautiful. Tsume put an arm around her and it just happened... their lips met, and it lasted so long... Tsume had lost his balance on the branch and fell into the shallow water. Kira hopped down into the water and had helped him up...  
  
The rest of the night, they had cuddled and slept in eachother's arms...  
  
[End of flashback]  
  
Kira tilted her head. She was waiting patiently for an answer... what was on his mind??... Does she really know this guy?... A guy who had rescued her from a blizzard not to long ago?? But when?? When had she met him?... If she ever had...  
  
...her past. What about her past?... She doesnt know ANYTHING about her childhood, she just woke up one day confused with an injured forhead... Blood was trickling down her forehead, what had happened??... She couldnt look into the past with her right arm for some reason, it wouldnt let her... the eye just wouldnt open...  
  
Tsume could tell she was thinking too, probably trying to remember who he was... still the question was trapped in his mind... tell her or not?...  
  
[Flashback]  
  
Tsume was 13, Kira was 11... the day he had lost her was so depressing... so confused... why had he punched her in the first place??...  
  
When he found her in the forest, he saw his best friend (wolf) in the jaws of his love (wolf). He had for once made a friend not long after Kira and him had met... She dropped him when she saw her love and returned to her human form. She wiped the blood off of her mouth and frowned.  
  
He approached her.  
  
"What..." he felt tears forming at the bottom of his eyes. Anger began to build inside of him... very slowly...  
  
Kira didnt say anything.  
  
"...what's... going on??" tears began streaming down his cheeks. What was he to say? His love had just killed his best friend...  
  
"...Im sorry." she whispered. "...But..."  
  
His tears dissapeared and his anger was beginning to slip out...  
  
"But what?!?" he yelled. "I dont think a sorry will help my dead friend!! What the hell were you doing?? Why the fuck would you do something so stupid??"  
  
He couldnt control himself... he just exploded on her...  
  
Kira began to cry.  
  
"...I-I didnt mean t-to!" she cried. "...I can explai-"  
  
He was getting tired of her talking. He just wanted her to shut up, he just needed silence... to calm down! But then it was all suddenly silent...  
  
He opened his eyes. His fist was held out infront of him, and Kira lay still with blood trickling down her forehead. He didnt remember hitting her, he didnt see it... or did he??  
  
He slowly walked to her unconsious body...  
  
He didnt know what to do. He was shocked, he had just hurt who he loved... what had made him do such a thing??... Why had he?...  
  
[Flashback pause]  
  
..._explain_. He hadnt let her explain why she had killed Taketo... but how did it matter to him? She had killed him... dead is dead... but still... why _did_ she kill him?...  
  
[Flashback continued]  
  
Tsume picked Kira up in his arms and carried her to her older brother, Kiba. He was about the same age as her, maybe about a year older. When he saw his younger sister, he frowned and glared at Tsume.  
  
"What did you do to her?" he growled.  
  
"Look, I..." Tsume set her down and held her hand. "She killed my best friend... And I just... exploded on her, okay??"  
  
Kiba folded his arms across his chest.  
  
"Well it doesnt look very good..." he paused. "She wont remember anything... She wont remember anything that happened before. You, me, and anyone else she met. All she'll know is her name and that she's a wolf..."  
  
"Wait wait wait," Tsume inturrupted. "How do you know this??"  
  
"Because it's happened before." Kiba answered. "... She wont remember anything unless you tell her. Then she'll eventually remember everything. Any little thing you tell her, like me being her brother but you havent told her you are her love, she'll remember it all."  
  
Tsume frowned.  
  
"But..." he looked down at her calm face. "... I cant face her... not after I had hurt her..."  
  
Kiba crouched down beside him.  
  
"...Then dont tell her." he whispered. "You can leave her somewhere in the forest, and I'll leave her as well. When she wakes up, she wont remember anything..."  
  
Tsume squeezed her hand. He didnt know what to do... he wasnt good at making decisions. He wanted to be with her, but he didnt want to face her after he had hurt her and exploded on her...  
  
"...I'll do it." he murmured. "...I'd rather have her forget what happened than be with her with that memory in her mind... I..."  
  
Kiba nodded.  
  
"I understand." he stood up. "...You have several hours till she wakes up, if you want to say your good bye or place her in a good spot."  
  
Tsume nodded. He picked her up and carried her off with Kiba behind him...  
  
He had decided to leave her at the edge of the pond they had always hung out at. He had sat beside her while holding her hand for atleast over an hour. He cried most of the time he had spent...  
  
He had kept whispering that he was sorry, and that he will always love her. Deep in his heart, he was praying for a miracle to happen... something that would just wake her up and she didnt remember about him hurting her... But nothing happened. He left her and asked Kiba to watch over her untill she was awake. And he did...  
  
The last thing Tsume had whispered to her was: "Im so sorry, please forgive me. I'll always love you..."  
  
[End of Flashback]  
  
By that point, he began to cry. Tears flowed down from his eyes uncontrolably. He covered half his face with one hand and let himself cry... Yet, his expression seemed like he was angry.  
  
Kira frowned and touched his shoulder. She didnt know why he was crying, but just needed to comfort him... it was like instinct...  
  
He gently pushed her hand away and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a hug. She jumped slightly as he pressed himself against her. He cried on her shoulder, tears trickling down her arm and back. She placed her hands on his back, holding him lightly. She rested her head on his and closed her eyes.  
  
"...Dont cry." she whispered. "Im here..."  
  
He hugged her tighter and balled up the back of her tanktop into his hands. About an hour later, he had stopped crying and they just sat there holding eachother. Tsume had a reason to still be holding onto her. Kira didnt. She loved Hige, and shouldnt be hugging someone else right now... it's alright to hug someone but... this hug felt _diffrent_ to her... it wasnt an ordinary embrace...  
  
It was silent for a while... untill Kira had to ask again... she wanted to know.  
  
"...Do I..." she whispered. "...know you?... From before?..."  
  
Tsume sniffed. He didnt want to let go. He felt like holding her forever, her warmth was the same like before... comforting... He opened his mouth to answer her...  
  
End of Chapter 11.  
  
NOTE: ::sniff::... ::whimper::... okay, now that Im done writing this chapter, Im happy now. It's so SAD.... I think I almost cried... x.x 


	12. Lacking Needs

NOTE: To Demon Girl: Is all you say "IT IS GOOD BUT DO A NEW CHAPTER!"??  
  
To Northern Pheonix: Yeah, I liked that chapter too... takes a brownie thank you XD  
  
To Kiba: Oookay... so their age isnt what I expected... Toboe is 11, Hige is 17, Kiba is 18, annnndddd Tsume is... 22... this doesnt make sence now... And their relationship sorta started like... in the 3rd flash back I believe... when Tsume was 10 or something? I dunno... They didnt start when they just met... Tsume did like her but ya'now, it's 7 and 5, liiiilll too young... I know.  
  
Chapter 12: Lacking Needs  
  
[Tsume and Kira]  
  
Tsume had opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He still wasnt sure... he really wanted to but... he was afraid she would hate him, or reject him, now that she loves Hige...  
  
He slowly shifted his nose to her neck, placing a soft kiss on her neck. That made Kira slightly afraid...  
  
She pushed lightly pushed him away, so he would let go of her, but not send him down. She frowned.  
  
"I-Im sorry, I..." she started.  
  
"No, I should be sorry." said Tsume. "I shouldnt have, Im sorry. You just remind me of... someone... and no... I've... never met you before."  
  
Kira could tell he was lying... but why? And why couldnt she remember who he is?... She decided to put it all aside for now, she was sleepy and needed rest...  
  
"Well Im... going to sleep." she smiled. "Good night."  
  
Tsume nodded slowly, but didnt move. He sat in the same spot he had been for the last hour or so and began to drowze off...  
  
He closed his eyes and let his body fall to the ground. He curled up into a loose ball and began to sleep as the memories of their time together continued to play again and again in his mind...  
  
Kira walked back to Hige, and was looking back at Tsume as she did. When she turned around, Hige was still asleep. Thank god... she thought. She didnt want him to see what happened, so he wouldnt get into conclusions... She snuggled herself back into his arms, and realized half Hige's shirt was soaking wet from Tsume's tears...  
  
"Wow..." she thought while frowning. "...that someone must have really meant a lot to him..."  
  
She slowly closed her eyes as she began to fall asleep...  
  
"Kira??" someone poked her cheek. She opened her eyes.  
  
"Huh?..." she murmured.  
  
"Wake up, it's morning." Hige smiled at her. She glanced around sleepily. Everyone was awake now, including Tsume. He looked like his normal self again...  
  
"Already??" she yawned while stretching.  
  
((It wasnt morning after she went back to sleep, it's just it went by fast...))  
  
"Yup." he grinned. "Or... we think so atleast."  
  
He pointed up. There was no sunlight shining through the trees. It covered the whole forest top... not a speck of sunlight... She frowned.  
  
"It's so dark here." she glanced back down. Hige helped her up.  
  
"Well... it IS the Forest of Death." he chuckled. She giggled.  
  
"Let's get going." said Kiba. He stood up, as well as everyone else. They continued their way through the dead forest...  
  
[Later...]  
  
"Ow!!" Toboe cried. "Dont touch there!! That's where it hurts!!"  
  
He had twisted his ankle when he got his foot caught between two roots of a tree. He had one of his pants legs rolled up while Kiba examined it. Hige, Kira, and Cheza watched. Tsume kept his distance by standing several feet away with his back to them. He hadnt said a word since last night.  
  
"Well, I can carry you untill it gets better..." Kiba suggested. Cheza crouched down infront of Toboe and held his foot. She gently began to rub where it hurt.  
  
"Hehehe..." he giggled. He soon burst into laughter.  
  
"What?" Hige asked.  
  
"Hehe... it tickles!! Hehehe!!" he said between his laughing.  
  
"Oooh!! Pet me! Pet me!!" Hige crawled to Cheza.  
  
With her other hand, she began to rub his head. He started off giggling, then growled softly. Kira giggled.  
  
"Tsume, you have to get pet by her!" Hige yelled over to him. "Hehehe... it feels good!"  
  
Tsume looked over his shoulder disgusted. He frowned, his mouth almost shaped like a horseshoe. He turned his head back around and shook his head.  
  
[Later...]  
  
The pack walked along the forest. After Cheza's touch, his ankle was fine.  
  
Cheza began to feel dizzy. She wobbled back and forth occationally, then eventually fell. Kiba had caught her before she hit the ground.  
  
"Cheza!" he set her down on the ground. "What's wrong??"  
  
Her breathing was heavy. She felt weak... but tried her best to point up to the sky. Everyone looked up.  
  
"She needs sunlight..." Toboe murmured.  
  
"We have to get out of here quickly, she needs water and needs to bask." Kiba picked her up on her back, giving her a piggy-back.  
  
"Let's go!" he broke into a run through the forest. Everyone followed behind him.  
  
Few moments later, Hige stopped. Tsume ran into him.  
  
"What the hell??" he growled. Everyone else stopped.  
  
"What is it?" Kiba asked.  
  
"I hear something... a bird!" his eyes grew wide. "Food!!"  
  
He ran another direction.  
  
"HEY! Where are you going??" Tsume growled. "Keep going, we'll catch up to you!"  
  
With that, he ran after Hige...  
  
[Hige]  
  
Hige slowed down and searched for the bird. He didnt see anything but trees...  
  
"Aaaahh!!!" he ducked as an owl swooped down near him and perched onto a tree branch.  
  
((I dont remember what the owl said so Im making it up...))  
  
"Get out..." it said.  
  
Hige blinked.  
  
"I must be hearing things..." he shook his head. "...probably because Im so hungry, heh."  
  
"Ggggeeeeeettttt oooouuuuuttttttt..." it hooted. It tilted it's head and blinked at the wolf.  
  
Hige dropped his jaw.  
  
"Since when had owls spoken??" he frowned. Tsume found him and ran to him.  
  
"What are you thinking?? We need to get Cheza out of here..." his eyes drifted to the owl. "What the..."  
  
"Lllllleeeeeeaaaaavvvveeeee..." it hooted.  
  
Tsume jumped in suprise.  
  
"What the hell??" he growled. "It... talks."  
  
Hige nodded.  
  
"Who cares? I'll just go kill it."  
  
He prepared to jump at it, but Tsume stopped him.  
  
"Wait."  
  
"What?? Arnt you hungry too??"  
  
"But it has no scent." he growled.  
  
Hige sniffed.  
  
"You're right..." Hige frowned.  
  
"Leave now, or face the consequences!" said the owl and flew away.  
  
The last part sent shivers running up their spines. Hige shuddered.  
  
"Okay, let's get out." he nodded.  
  
They suddenly heard a howl. It was Toboe. The two began running towards the howl...  
  
When they returned, Cheza lay in Kiba's arms. She was still alive, but something began to form on the skin of her neck.  
  
They both gasped. Tsume peered closer.  
  
"Is she... withering??" he gasped.  
  
Kiba nodded.  
  
"We have to find some water and light or she'll die..." he frowned. Cheza reached up and grabbed a handful of Kiba's shirt.  
  
"This one... is fine." she whispered softly. "...This one... does not... want to... hold back... wolves..."  
  
Kiba placed her on his back again.  
  
"We just have to keep going..." he said. "... and just hope..."  
  
They were about to continue when they saw the owl again.  
  
"That thing again!" Tsume growled.  
  
"What?" Kiba asked.  
  
"The owl... it talks." Hige answered.  
  
"You're kidding... righ-"  
  
"Leaaaaaaaavvve nooooowwww..." it said.  
  
Everyone, except Hige and Tsume, looked shocked.  
  
"...umm... Maybe it can help us find water!" Toboe suggested.  
  
"We can give it a shot..." Kiba nodded.  
  
"Do you know where we can find water and light??" he asked the owl. "Please! Our friend is dying!"  
  
The owl tilted it's head. It lifted one wing and scratched under it with it's beak.  
  
"What you seek is not here." it said in an eerie voice. "Leave now, and it will be near. Once you find them, they are just ordinary things. It is in the dark, in a cramped place not so far. Only those who step in with courage will there be a blessing for only they."  
  
"It's speaking in riddles!!" Tsume growled.  
  
It hopped off the branch it was perched on and flew away.  
  
"We should follow it!!" Toboe suggested. "Maybe it's leading us to water and light!"  
  
Kiba nodded and quickly ran after the owl. The rest of the pack followed.  
  
The owl had let them to a dark cave. The pack stopped several feet away from it, just incase anything popped out...  
  
"Should we go in?..." Kira murmured.  
  
"Is it in here?" Kiba asked the owl. It blinked at him.  
  
"Only those who step in with courage will there be a blessing for only they." it said.  
  
The pack stared at the owl blankly.  
  
"Well, it's better than being lost in here and letting Cheza die." Kira frowned. "Let's go in..."  
  
Kiba nodded. She was always the one who would suggest the decisions before anyone else...  
  
They walked closer to the cave and began to enter one by one...  
  
((Kay, here's what I said for the commercial: Whoo! Owl is SCARY!! WAAAAAAHHH!! hides in corner while huggling stuffed animals AAAAAHH!! ITS A TALKING PARANTAH!! screams  
  
Okay, I might have been hyper that night...))  
  
"I swear we've been here 5 times now." Hige grumbled.  
  
They had been walking for hours, and werent getting anywhere. They had been walking in circles... again.  
  
"Well we went right last time, let's go left." Kiba suggested. He was wearing out, and needed rest... but he wouldnt let himself, he couldnt... Cheza's life was in their hands now...  
  
"Kiba, let me carry Cheza, you're going to pass out like her if you dont rest." said Tsume.  
  
"No, I can handle it." he growled. He suddenly tripped over a small rock, but quickly regained his balance.  
  
"Damnit!" he growled.  
  
"Kiba!" Tsume snarled. "Put Cheza down."  
  
"NO!" he snarled back.  
  
Toboe backed away from the two and ended up stepping on something. It cracked under his foot. He jumped back further in suprise.  
  
"What the..." Toboe looked down. It was a skeleton of something.  
  
"What is it?" Kiba asked.  
  
"Some sort of skeleton..." he murmured.  
  
"It looks like... an... owl..." Hige stared at it in shock.  
  
"It was a trap!" Tsume growled.  
  
Suddenly, a rollie bug burst out from under the skeletons and attacked Toboe. He screamed and wacked it away. Suddenly, more crawled out from where it came from. It began attacking the wolves.  
  
Kiba began to panic. He dodged the bugs while trying to find a place for Cheza to be safe...  
  
"Kiba, let me take her." Kira quickly grabbed Cheza off of his back before he could answer. She quickly hopped away, stepping on some of the bugs while escaping.  
  
"Kira, up here!" Tsume yelled from above a huge platoe or platue (forgot what you call it) lookin' thing.  
  
Kira threw her up to Tsume. He caught her perfectly and set her down gently. She opened her eyes.  
  
"Tsume..." she smiled and gently touched the scar on his chest.  
  
((Wonder how he got that anyways...))  
  
Kira (wolf) ran up the side of the wall up to where Tsume and Cheza. Tsume let go of her and walked (wolf) over to Kira. They both nodded, Kira with a large grin on her face (or it seemed). They both hopped down towards the bugs and killed a couple on their landing.  
  
The pack continued to fight the bugs, they bit and scratched back...  
  
[Cheza]  
  
She rolled over and peered down at the wolves fighting the bugs. She saw them covered in small cuts.  
  
"This one..." she whispered. "...does not want to see wolves hurt..."  
  
She closed her eyes, then opened them again as she heard something.  
  
"This one... is being called." she stood uo and jumped down. Bugs grabbed onto her red poncho (let's call it that...) and clung on a she ran off.  
  
"Cheza!" Kiba yelled.  
  
"What's she doing??" Tsume growled.  
  
Kira ran past everyone to help Cheza. She sensed she was up to something, so cleared the way for her. The rest of the pack followed behind her.  
  
Cheza rolled into a narrow hole and tumbled down to the ground. The bugs crawled into giant fly traps...  
  
"Whoa!" said Toboe.  
  
"What are those?" Hige asked out loud.  
  
"Fly traps." Kira murmured. "They eat bugs."  
  
"Plants that eat insects, cool!" said Toboe.  
  
Kiba ran to Cheza (everyone human now) and picked her up.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"This one is alright." she whispered.  
  
"Hey guys! Over here!!" Toboe waved his arms near a light. "It's a way out!"  
  
The pack ran past the fly traps and towards the light. When they exited, it was already nighttime again.  
  
Tsume tackled Toboe, who tackled Hige, who dragged Kira with into a small pond. They wrestled in the water for a while before watching Cheza walk into the water. Whatever was forming on her neck dissapeared as she basked in the moonlight and drank the water.  
  
Kiba sighed and smiled. They had saved Cheza in time, and escaped the Forest of Death.  
  
After that, they all sleep peacfully under a tree under Cheza's watch.  
  
End of Chapter Twelve.  
  
NOTE: Well this only took a day!... it was only 9 and a half pages anyways... the longest was I think 22 pages. The next chapter shouldnt take long either... since it mostly had Cher, Darcia, and those people besides the wolves... so yeah. 


	13. Vanishing Point

NOTE: To Wolven Wishes: Im confused about the ages now, so Im just going with whatever... and I take notes when I watch the anime, but I dont take every, single, detail. I dont want it to be just like it... I mean, it WOULD probably be slightly diffrent if Kira was around... and if my spelling and grammer bothers you that much, I'll find someone who can help me with it.  
  
To Demon Girl: Im guessing that's a yes.  
  
Chapter 13: Vanishing Point  
  
[The Pack]  
  
"Raaaaahh!!" Hige yelled out loud as he stretched. Kira stepped away suprised. Everyone else stared at him.  
  
"Im just so full of energy!! I feel like running around forever!!" a grin stretched across his face.  
  
"I feel the same." grinned Tsume.  
  
"Yeah, me too." said Toboe. "I wonder why..."  
  
"It's a full moon tonight." Kiba said calmly. "Once a year, on a full moon, a flower is called by the moon and returns to Paradise..."  
  
"Cool!!" Toboe squealed.  
  
"But Im not certain if that'll be tonight." Kiba added.  
  
"Something tells me it will be!" Toboe smiled. "Are you excited, Cheza?"  
  
Cheza looked over her shoulder to the wolves.  
  
"This one is." she replied. "This one cannot wait!"  
  
Kiba nodded, smiling. Hige glanced over to the silent Kira.  
  
"What about you?" he asked.  
  
"Huh?" she looked up. She looked tired, VERY tired. She looked slightly pale, but that might have just been Hige.  
  
"Hey, hey... are you okay?" he asked. "You look..."  
  
"Like shit? Yes." she grumbled.  
  
"What? Didnt you have enough sleep or something?"  
  
"Nah... nothing like that."  
  
She frowned and walked over to Cheza.  
  
"Let's keep going..." she said as she walked along beside Cheza.  
  
Kiba nodded and followed behind them. Everyone else, except Hige, speed walked to catch up. Hige stood there, an expressionless face, and staring at Kira.  
  
"Hey, are you coming??" Tsume growled.  
  
Hige shook his head.  
  
"Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, right."  
  
He ran ahead to the pack.  
  
[That night, on the edge of a forest...]  
  
"Look! There's the moon!" Toboe pointed out.  
  
"Whoa! It's so big!" said Hige.  
  
"I feel like howling my head off right now!!" Tsume yelled.  
  
Cheza suddenly began to dance in the moonlight. Kiba ran over to her and began running around her while howling. The others joined quickly. Kira was the last to join because she didnt want to look unusual, just standing there watching them dazed. Just wanted to be normal...  
  
After what felt like hours of running around and howling, they had stopped to stare at the moon. Cheza silently basked. When she opened her eyes, flowers suddenly bloomed around them. It grew into what looked like a path ahead of them.  
  
"It's the path to Paradise!" Toboe said excitedly as he (wolf) bolted down the path. The others (wolf) followed quickly. Kiba ran beside Cheza.  
  
Suddenly, a noise came from above. It sounded like an airship...  
  
"Darcia!" Kiba growled.  
  
The airship landed quickly infront of them and stopped them from going any further. The door slid open and Darcia stepped out. He glances around at the wolves, then smirked at them.  
  
"Come, Cheza." he said. "Abandon these wolves, you belong to me, I created you after all."  
  
Cheza frowned.  
  
"She will NOT come with you!!" Kiba growled and charged at Darcia to attack, but he only ended up bouncing off of his sheild. He stood up, shook his head and growled.  
  
Darcia smirked. A red light began to built on a lazer gun on his ship. It grew big quickly, then a streak of red light rushed towards Toboe...  
  
Dirt flew everywhere. The blast knocked Toboe unconsious and sent him flying backwards 20 feet.  
  
"Toboe!" Hige turned around and rushed to him. Kiba bared his teeth and charged towards Darcia again. Tsume did the same...  
  
Another lazer blast was shot, sending Kiba back several feet. Another rushed towards Hige... but he felt a slight push...  
  
He flew forward several feet and landed unharmed (pretty much). He looked up to see something white flying in the air...  
  
Kira landed on her back, right next to Hige. She had pushed him out of the way from the blast. She rolled over and stood up, blood trickling down from the top of her head, staining her bright fur.  
  
"Why..." Hige murmured.  
  
"This isnt time for helping an unconsious kid." she growled, blood dripping down from her jaws. "We cant let him take Cheza."  
  
She dashed towards Darcia, leaving Hige standing there. He glanced at Toboe, then at Darcia. He turned around and followed her.  
  
Kiba didnt make it to Darcia. He was blasted back several feet by another blast from the lazer cannon. Same happened to Tsume, but they both slowly got up and continued to work their way to him.  
  
Kira knew she couldnt really do anything now but to take on the hits for the others. She ran to catch up to Kiba and Tsume. A blast hit Hige, sending him flying back to almost where Toboe was. Another came towards Tsume. He didnt have time to move. He closed his eyes, but when he realized nothing hit him, he stopped and opened his eyes.  
  
Tiny bits of white fur flew past him. He turned his head from side to side, looking for his love...  
  
She was still standing, or working on it. One eye closed, an ear bent forward, and a busted leg. She wouldnt give up now, not while she was still standing...  
  
Cheza watched in horror. Tears streamed down her cheeks.  
  
"Burn in hell, Darcia!" Kiba growled. He charged after him, but bounced off his shield again. When he landed, another lazer blast sent him flying back. Kira slowly walked toward Darcia, but only ended up being blasted again.  
  
Kiba staggered up. Tsume ran over to Kira, but she growled him away. He didnt see the blast coming towards him and her.  
  
Kiba slowly walked towards Darcia. He wouldnt give up either. Never. He was blasted again, and again, and again... still he refused to fall. Never... never...  
  
"That is enough." said Cheza. She walked to Kiba and hugged him lightly.  
  
"No..." he whispered. "...you cant... dont go, please... no..."  
  
"This one must go. This one is sorry." she whispered.  
  
"...please..." Kiba breathed. "...we're wolves, we're not afraid to die... please dont go..."  
  
She set him down and gently pet his fur. Then she moved onto Kira, then Tsume, then Hige, and Toboe. With that finished, she walked to Darcia and his ship. He chuckled and politely took her hand and let her inside.  
  
Kiba watched the ship hover over them and leave in a second. He dropped his head and fell asleep...  
  
End of Chapter 13.  
  
NOTE: My mom watched this episode, and she said she cried at the ending. I kept telling her the wolves were still alive, but she kepy saying they were dead. She thought it was so sad that they were risking their lives to save her... or something... whatever. 


	14. Open Your Eyes

Uhhh... my friend saved the documents I guess... YEAY! And the notes are a lil off date since I typed them like 2-3 weeks ago.

NOTE: I'm only typing 2 more chapters and an epilogue (I think thats how you spell it... I should check). They're probably going to be crappy, but I'm tired of my internet not working and having to have these chapters laying around, and Ive been working on it too much (my opinion). I'm thinking of writing a Inuyasha/Wolf's Rain fanfic or a YuYu Hakusho/Wolf's Rain fanfic anyways. Hope you like this chapter.

* * *

Final Chapter 1: Open Your Eyes

[Wolves]

The wolves lay still on the ground where they had been attacked and knocked unconscious by Darcia. But Tsume (human) was awake. He pulled himself to Kira (human) and lay next to her. He wasn't sure if she was still alive, so he pulled her close to her.

Her weak breaths swept past Tsume's neck. He let go of her and stared at her face. Her left eye bled, either that or it was the blood trickling down her forehead. Her left arm bent in a strange way and was swelling up. He brushed several strands of her hair away from her face.

"Kira..." Tsume whispered in her ear. "...Kira."

He gave her a gentle shake. She opened her right eye slightly, but not the left. Her left arm twitched slightly as she tried to move it. A slight jolt of pain bolted through her arm. She winced from it and tried not to scream.

"Tsume..." she whispered. "...Are you okay?..."

He nodded.

"You're not." he gently pulled her broken arm the right way and set it down. She tightened her teeth as he did this, but suddenly she couldn't feel anything anymore. She grabbed a little of his sleeve with her other arm.

"Tsume..." she smiled. "Who are you?..."

Tsume blinked at her blankly.

"What?..." he whispered.

"Who are you?" Kira closed her eyes. "I know you, and you know it... who are you?... why wont you say anything about it?..."

Tsume looked away.

"I..."

"Was it something bad?" she asked.

He grabbed a handful of dirt, then let go of it. He looked at Kira, strait in the eyes.

"Kiba's your brother." he whispered.

Suddenly, Kira's eyes shot open wide. Something was happening inside her mind, she didn't know what it was, until seconds later, when she saw herself as a child. She closed her eyes and watched the memories play.

It all went too fast, she couldn't catch up with them. She couldn't believe it.

"Why didn't he tell me..." she thought. Then suddenly, she saw another memory. This one slowed down for her. She saw Tsume, when he was little, crying but yet looked angry at the same time. She watched as his fist flew at her.

Kira opened her eyes.

"No... this isnt..." she whispered as tears formed in her eyes. "All this time... you..."

"I didn't mean to hurt you." he grumbled.

Hige. Hige was all Kira could see in her mind right now. But Tsume was all she could think about. All this time... he had to...

"...why..." tears streamed down the side of her face. "...did you let yourself... go through all the torture..."

Tsume looked at Kira, confused.

"...of seeing me with Hige?"

His eyes widened. It had hurt so bad when he saw them cuddling. It had hurt so bad when he saw them kiss. It had hurt him all this time... that was the feeling. He suddenly felt the need to pull Kira close, but he didn't. Instead, he became serious and held her hand.

"Kira," he edged a little closer to her. "I love you, and I didnt want you to live with the fact that I hurt you. But now I just want to forget it, let those memories burn in hell, and I want to have new memories with you. Good ones that I can remember forever."

Kira quietly gasped.

"...so who will it be?" he asked. "...I don't care if you go with Hige... I just want you to be happy."

Kira tightened her grip on his shirt. She remembered Blue, the girl Hige would love one day. It made perfect sense now.

She let go of his shirt and rolled over to side so she could see Tsume better. She slowly moved her face towards his. Before their lips met, she whispered: I love you too.

End of Final Chapter 1.

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NOTE: Ahh, that was a little short, and it only took an hour. I guess I was desperate to write this chapter since I couldn't start it the next day (2:00am now...). Must sleep... good night 


	15. Parting Ways

NOTE: Final chapter besides the epilogue.

* * *

Final Chapter 2: Parting Ways

[Wolves]

The morning sun was beginning to rise as the kiss broke. The clouds began turning lighter and into an orangish and blue color.

The others were still unconscious, or asleep. Tsume sat up and helped Kira up too. They had a small chat while Tsume wrapped her broken arm and put it in a sling with bandages. Kira nodded.

"Whatever happened to that rose bracelet I gave you?" Tsume asked.

Kira tilted her head and thought.

"Hmm..." she reached into her jean pocket and took out the bracelet. One of the roses had been crushed, but the rest looked okay. He smiled and placed it around her wrist. He helped her stand up.

[Later...]

Kiba jerked awake and sat up. A folded up piece of paper fell from his chest onto his lap. He glanced around. Darcia had taken Cheza. He had failed to keep her... He noticed Toboe and Hige were dragged near him, but Kira and Tsume were nowhere in sight. He picked up the note, unfolded it and began reading it.

It said:

_Dear brother,_

_Tsume told me everything, how you're my brother and how he used to love me when we were little. I realized now why I couldn't see into the past with my right arm. But I saw the future for Hige, and he wasn't with me. He was with someone else.I didn't understand it then, but I do now. Ive run off with Tsume to start a new life with him. I hope you arn't mad. I'd rather die here on earth where I was born than die in Paradise. I hope you find it someday. Please explain to the others, I wont be coming back. We wont. We're going to live at the forest where I was born, and where I met Tsume. I hope it's still there, I'm sure it is. I can feel it. If you don't find Paradise, please come by. I think you'll find it, so I probably wont be seeing you... Oh well. I will miss you, brother. I'll miss everyone. Please tell Hige I'm sorry and that his future isn't supposed to be with me, but with someone else. I'm sure he'll understand. Tell him I'm keeping the necklace he gave me so I can remember him, not that I wont if I gave it back. I'll never forget anyone of you. Please find Paradise.  
___

_Kira_

Kiba nodded and shoved the note into his jacket pocket. He would explain to the others about Kira and Tsume when they wake up. Then they'll continue their way to Paradise.

End of Final Chapter 2.

* * *

NOTE: Yeah... this was pretty short. I couldn't think of anything else to do. I guess it's an alternate future for Tsume. 


	16. Epilogue

NOTE: Final chapter, the Epilogue.

* * *

Wolf's Rain: The Albino Wolf - Epilogue

The forest that Tsume and Kira first met was still alive. It was more beautiful than ever before. They created a place to live in a cave in the middle of the forest somewhere.

Tsume one day asked why Kira had killed his friend. She explained that Taketo had said Tsume was in love with someone else besides her. She said it wasn't true and that he'd never do something like that, but Taketo kept on saying he was cheating on her, that whenever he said he went to the city to get food, he was actually going to see the other girl and then quickly get the food. He also said that some of the food had been from the other girl. But of course, Kira didn't believe it. He kept on telling her this until she couldn't take it anymore and went to the point that she had to kill him. He was just jealous that his friend had someone to love but he didn't. Tsume sadly understood.  
  
After Hige and Toboe had awakened, Kiba explained everything. It was tragic news for Hige, but as the note said, he understood. After that, the pack continued their way to find Paradise.

Several years later, Tsume and Kira had their hands full with little ones. They had 5 pups about 2 or 3 years after they left Kiba. Kira named most the pups after those in her life. Hige, Toboe, Kiba, Kisa, and Zali. Tsume was always playing with them, but sometime got pissed when they annoyed him. Kira would playfully yell at him for doing so. They had a peaceful life now, with a family and quiet place to live.

They never saw Kiba, Toboe, or Hige again, and wasnt sure if they had found Paradise or not. But one thing they knew was that Kiba wouldn't give up looking for it, he was still out there somewhere.

In Paradise or not.

The End.

* * *

NOTE: 16 chapters, my first finished fanfic (YEAY!). Ima start on a new one now (YEAY!) and I'm going to have to post the chapters when I get my computer fixed (YEAY! and BOO!) and I hope I can get it fixed and I don't have to use a new computer cuz then it'll get lost (BOO!) and I hope I can post this someday (WHEE!).

If you want to hear my original plan, here it is:

I was going to have Kira at the end go with Tsume anyways. And that Hige would hook up with Blue sometime after they break up. And of course, Tsume was going to tell Kira about their past. But I would have done all the chapters before I did this, so it's like it kinda happens earlier than planned.  
Oh well, I hope you guys liked this fanfic the way it is. Watch for new fanfics on Inuyasha/Wolf's Rain fanfic.


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